Tag Archives: queens

Two Hives In One

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Bean

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 | Leave a comment

Why Jaws of Worker Honeybees Differ From Queen Bees

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Bean

First off, the “jaws” of honeybees are really called mandibles. “Mandibles” is a lot to get in a header, and they do act as jaws. The mandibles open side to side rather than up and down like our jaws. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Honeybees -interesting stuff | Tagged Brookfield Farm, honeybee, jaw, mandible, Maple Falls, queens, Washington, worker | 2 Comments

Installing Russian Queens

Posted on June 1, 2012 by bean

Every year I have purchased ten queens for new up-river hives. This year I was able to buy the girls from Cold Country Queens in New York State. I particularly wanted queens from this source because they raise Russian Queens … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield, Brookfield Farm, Farm, honeybee, install, Maple Falls, queens, Russian, Washington | 2 Comments

An Idea for Practicing Grafting Honeybee Larvae

Posted on July 27, 2011 by bean

A recap of our group’s queen bee grafting endeavors, and an idea on how to practice grafting honeybee larvae without a cell builder to test one’s grafts Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queen Rearing : Honeybees | Tagged bee, Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield, Brookfield Farm, cells, Farm, graft, grafting, hives, honeybees, how to, ideas, Karen Bean, larvae, Maple Falls, Mt. Vernon, nucleus, nucs, Pat Ray, practice, queens, Washington | 1 Comment

Grafting Honeybee Larvae to Make Queen Cells

Posted on July 19, 2011 by bean

Grafting honeybee larvae to create queen cells. Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queen Rearing : Honeybees | Tagged bee, Beekeeping, bees, board, Brookfield, Brookfield Farm, cells, cloake, cloake board, cloke, Farm, graft, grafting, hives, honeybees, how to, Karen Bean, larva, larvae, Maple Falls, Pat Ray, queen, Queen cells, queen rearing, queens, rearing, Sue Cobey, Washington | 4 Comments

Workers and Queen Cells Unite! Adventures in Queen Rearing, Part 2

Posted on July 10, 2011 by bean

Our group puts the gathered nurse honeybees and a queen cell into mini-mating nuclei (nucs) to allow the queen bee to emerge and begin to lay eggs. Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queen Rearing : Honeybees | Tagged Bean, bee, Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield, Brookfield Farm, Farm, honeybee, honeybees, how to, images, Karen, Karen Bean, Maple Falls, mating, nucleus, nucs, pictures, queen bee, queens, Washington | 2 Comments

Queen Rearing – A Sequence of Events – Part 1: Shaking Bees

Posted on July 1, 2011 by bean

Gathering nurse bees using a honeybee shaker box – part 1 of a series on our on-going queen rearing project at Bruce Bowen Bees in Mt. Vernon, Washington Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged bee, Beekeeping, bees, box, boxes, brood, Bruce Bowen, collect, honeybees, how to, Mt. Vernon, nurse bees, queen rearing, queens, shaker, shaker box, Washington | 4 Comments

Honeybee Books

Posted on November 30, 2010 by bean

Books on Honeybees and other Insects that Beekeeper Karen Bean recommends, or simply likes. From the practical : “how to keep bees” and “how to raise queens” to honey bee behavior and insects in general. Karen Bean is the Beekeeper at Brookfield Farm, Maple Falls, WA Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged 40 Years Among The Bees, Ants and Wasps", bee biology, bee books, bees, behavior, biology, Biology of the Honey Bee, book reviews, books, breeding, Breeding Queens, bug, C.C. Miller, Dr. Marla Spivak, Eric Grissell, Gilles Fert, Honey Plants of North America, honeybee, honeybee biology, Honeybee Democracy, how to keep bees, insects, Insects of the Pacific Northwest, Jay Smith, John H. Lovell, Judy Haggard, Mark L. Winston, Miller, Natural Beekeeping, Peter Haggard, Queen Rearing Simplified, queens, raising, raising queens, reviews, Ross Conrad, social, social behavior, Successful Queen Rearing, Thomas D. Seeley | Leave a comment

Preparing for Nucs at a 700 Colony Operation

Posted on April 20, 2010 by bean

Sorting out waxed, plastic honeybee foundation and preparing nucleus (nuc) boxes with Bruce Bowen, of Bruce Bowen’s Bees, in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged bees, Bruce Bowen, comb, drawn, drawn comb, foundation, honeybees, Mount Vernon, Mt. Vernon, nucleus, nucs, pallets, plastic, queens, Washington | 4 Comments

Eggs and Larvae For A Queen

Posted on April 7, 2010 by bean

Giving a frame of eggs and larvae to a queenless beehive. The timing and luck involved in going from a frame of eggs and larvae to a laying queen Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged Beekeeping, bees, cells, comb, congreation area, drones, eggs, frame, honeybee, Hopkins, larva, larvae, queen cell, queenless, queens, timing | Leave a comment