Brookfield Farm Beekeeper Karen Bean
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Tag Archives: honeybees
Post-Winter Hive Check 2016
We had some clear weather at the end of February, and I took advantage of it to check the hives. For the record, Brookfield Farm Bees And Honey had a 13% loss of beehives from September to March. I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Brookfield Farm Bee Yards, Feeding Bees
Tagged bee, Beekeeping, bees, brood, Brookfield Farm, check up, dead outs, hive, honeybees, Maple Falls, pollen, post winter, Washington
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Splitting and Supering Hives
I’m a bit behind in my posts. About 3 weeks ago I went through all my hives, again. The intention was to either split or super the ones that were getting crowded to keep them from swarming. It quickly became … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Brookfield Farm Bee Yards, Queen Rearing : Honeybees
Tagged bee, Beekeeping, Brookfield Farm, hive, honeybees, how to, Maple Falls, nuc, queen excluder, split, Washington
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Winter Bee Hives Losses and Lessons at Brookfield Farm
I have now gone though all my hives. My last post was about what that entailed. This post is about the results, what I saw for good and for bad, and the result of an experiment. The Overall Results This … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Hive Components
Tagged Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, failure, honeybees, Maple Falls, over winter, queen, results, Washington
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Checking and Manipulating Bee Hives in late winter
The sun finally broke out, temperatures went into the low 50F’s so I finally got out to the hives to check them for honey stores, a bit of hive manipulation, and to put in their essential oil patties. The sun … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Brookfield Farm Bee Yards, Hive Components
Tagged bee hive, Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, cleaning, honey bound, honeybees, how to, manipulation, Maple Falls, Washington
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Making Essential Oil Bee Patties Making Essential Oil Bee Patties
Twice a year my bees get some essential oils in their diets. The aim is for general health, to strengthen their immune systems and to combat varroa mites, from the inside. Before I go any further, let me say there … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Diseases and Pests
Tagged bee, Brookfield Farm, Essential, honeybees, how to, making, Maple Falls, oil, patties, recipe, Washington
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Honeybee Food Foraging : Where? Why? How Far?
I get asked a lot at market: how do you know that the bees actually went to “that” honey. “That” honey may be Buckwheat, Alfalfa/Wildflower, Fireweed/Wildflower, or Wildflowers of particular regions in Washington State. Really it is all about flight … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Honeybee Biology, Honeybees -interesting stuff
Tagged Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, distances, find, flight, food, forage, honeybees, how, Maple Falls, Washington
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How Honeybees Smell
Scent means a lot to bees. They use their sense of smell to check queen quality, sort out friend from foe, locate their hive or new hive after swarming, and find forage. Their sense is so acute that they can … Continue reading
Posted in Honeybee Biology, Honeybees -interesting stuff
Tagged bees, Brookfield Farm, honeybees, how, Maple Falls, scent, smell, Washington
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Harvesting Honey, Treating Hives
Harvesting Honey, Treating Hives Posted on September 13, 2014 by brookfieldfarmhoney I have been pulling honey and putting thymol on the hives this last week. This blog’s been silent for quite a few weeks. July and August simply got out of … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Brookfield Farm Bee Yards, Diseases and Pests, Farm
Tagged Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, harvest, honey, honeybees, how to, Maple Falls, Mount Baker, natural, pack goats, treatments, Washington
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New Queens In New Hives
The queen bees have come – with more still coming. The first queens have been placed in their hives (the splits I wrote about in the previous blog post), and are laying. This post covers how I put them in … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Uncategorized
Tagged Beekeeping, bees, boxes, Brookfield Farm, honeybees, install, Maple Falls, queen, Washington
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Two Hives In One
I am going though all of my hives right now – more on the “what I do” in the next blog – but I thought my “two hives in one” moment was quite interesting. FALL 2013 : NO QUEEN? MERGE … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Brookfield Farm Bee Yards, Queen Rearing : Honeybees
Tagged Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, hive, honeybees, Maple Falls, over winter, queens, two, Washington
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