Lots of News and Lots of Pictures

Hello again everyone.  A lot has happened since my last post.  I have completed the Carroll County Beekeeping Association Short Course.  Here is the proof.

I learned a lot about keeping bees in Central Maryland.  Although the last day of classroom was all about everything that can kill my bees, I remain resolute.  The good news is that with proper management, things that stress bees can be overcome.  This includes Integrated Pest Management such as my screened bottom boards, hive beetle traps, and miticides.  I think Oxcalic acid will be my miticide of choice.  A little more of an investment but will save my bees in the long run.  A good article on it can be found here.

The capstone for the Short Course is a field day at Bear Branch Nature center.  Unfortunately it was too cold to actually get into the apiary to look at live bees.  Ronan did get a chance to practice lighting our smoker though.  He did a good job and got it lit on the first try.  Good start for the young beekeeper. 

Inside there were several tables set up with information and hands on stuff.  I had some good conversations about feeders and Ronan got quizzed by our Mentor's wife.  I think he fared pretty well.  He also got to try out an extractor.  We won't have honey for a while but at least he knows how to use it. 

After we got home, there was a package waiting for me from Jen.  She told me to go ahead and open it.  It is a beautiful leather diary with some high quality paper for me to keep track of my apiary visits and document the visits to my hives.  I can't wait to use it.  I feel like I need to take a Penmanship course prior to using it though.

The other exciting news is that my bees will be here sooner than expected.  I was originally scheduled to get my bees around April 10.  The March shipment was a week early and there is every reason to believe that the April one will be as well.  That means I could have them in less than two weeks.  I am also purchasing a Nuc from my mentor and he seems to think they will be ready to go any day now.  Because of that I have finally got my hive boxes set up in the back yard and are just waiting for bees.

Before long, those entrances will be buzzing.  I can't wait.  Jen plans on planting wildflowers all in the back.  The top picture shows the lilac bushes along the fence (which are budding) and the second picture shows the apple trees.  Hopefully my bees will have plenty of food. 

Beautiful weather means a new video outside

Quick update everyone.  I took advantage of the great weather to do my smoker tutorial.  It was successful and I hope everyone finds it useful.  I did learn that I can't say tutorial without it coming out like "tour"torial. I wasn't going to do another take because of that though.  Unfortunately I didn't see any bees taking a cleansing flight although the temperature was warm enough.  I did get a chance to smell the farmers laying down fresh manure though.  Let's just say the smoker did it's job and masked the scent.  You can find the video here.  I have also been putting the eyelets in my frames and crosswired one of them.  I will do a video on that next.  See you next time.

Latest Unboxing

Hello everyone.  Sorry for the delay.  It has been a good few couple of weeks.  A lot has happened in regards to beekeeping.  First thing is that I got all of my hive components painted.  My wife Jen selected the color and I think it looks fantastic. This first picture is an in progress shot

It doesn't do the color justice. I just wanted to show the progress a little.  This next picture has all the pieces ready to go.  They are stacked that way just so I ensure they didn't stick together.  It does a better job of showing the color.  They are a pale almost robin egg blue in person.

The next big news is that we got another shipment from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm.

It had a surprise for Ronan in it.  It was his "Wee Bee" Suit.  It is a perfect fit and he is very excited.

It also contained another hood for me, that zips to my current jacket.  That enables me to have the separate veil for any visitors to use.  This is both of us suited up.

Also in the package were eyelets and crosswire for my frames.  This is a vital component if I ever intend to use an extractor.  It will keep the honeycomb from blowing out. The video of the unboxing can be found here.  I apologize in advance for the poor framing.  I am still trying to figure this all out.  Hopefully by the time I am working with the bees I will have it down and will provide some great videos.

We are excited to get started. I purchased my first package of bees last night and I will pick them up on April 9th or 10th (weather allowing).  Then we are up and running.

Another Night of Class

Week two of class is complete.  The Carroll County Beekeepers Association puts on a great short course.  Last night's topics included the difference between package bees and Nucs, installation of bees into hives, and honeybee biology.  The biology portion was fascinating to me.  The way the hive communicates with pheromones is extremely efficient.  If a Queen dies or is having issues then the stabilizing pheromone that she produces will be nonexistent or week.  The colony will know within 6-7 hours and can begin emergency preparations.  This is vital to the survival of the colony.  We discussed timelines of the bee life cycle and it became obvious that beekeepers can be the difference between life or death of the colony. 


I also looked into reserving my bees.  I am most likely purchasing them from a "local" vendor out of Gaithersburg.  The advice that he gave me was to get on the list next week.  I could get on the list to get bees at the end of March but he said that is a bad time for new beekeepers.  I can only assume thet is because there is no good nectar flow and that could make starting a hive more difficult.  It looks like I will not get them until April.  A few weeks doesn't matter to me but it could make a world of difference for the bees.


Some new videos will be forthcoming.  I am gathering fuel for my smoker and will be doing a tutorial on how to light and keep the smoker lit.  My fuel of choice is going to be dried pine needles.  They are plentiful in my area.  I will also be doing a video on foundation installation into frames, and assembly of the hive components. 


If there is anything else you want to see let me know.

Hives unboxed and videos uploaded

Well today was an eventful day.  I created my first two videos for my vlog.  They can be found on my YouTube Channel.  It was definitely a learning experience.  I made a first attempt using a GoPro but the "fisheye" effects on the walls were a distraction.  I then decided to use my iPhone.  I am OK with the quality, but it has the two black boarders on the side due to the format.  I think I need to convince my wife to let me use her camera. I will do some outdoor videos with the GoPro to see how that works.  There is a lot of lessons to be learned and the quality of the videos will only get better over time.


The end result of my unboxing looks like this. 

Check out the unboxing video to see all the components.  I can't wait to do some video tutorials on lighting a smoker and installing foundation on frames. 

I want everyone to know that my blog and vlog are as much for you as they are for me.  I hope to be able to teach some folks as they learn along with me.  If there are videos you want to see, or questions you want answered, let me know and I will be happy to oblige.    

Have a great day.  Remember, every day is a new beginning.

Class has started and big surprises coming!

Welcome back friends and followers.  Yesterday was a big day for me.  I got home from work and found this waiting for me.

It is all my hive components and equipment.  I will be doing an unboxing this Friday and posting it to my YouTube Channel.  It is killing me to just see it sitting in my living room waiting to be opened.  I also got some equipment for Christmas and I will go over that too.  It will be my first foray into an actual video for my VLOG.  I will let you know when it posts, so please check it out and comment so I can make it a worthwhile endeavor. 
 

Last night also saw the family attending the first day of our beginning beekeeper class.  It was nice to see some of the folks from the Carroll County Beekeepers Association.  I had been attending the monthly meetings, but missed January.  The class was huge.  There were over 100 students.  I think they said there were 55 registrations.  My family had 4 people there.  If everyone starts beekeeping this year, that is a lot of new pollinators in Carroll County.  
 

The class was informative.  There were a lot of questions asked and it caused us to run late.  We had to push off one of the lessons until next week.  I would rather have that happen then just sit in the classroom and have someone lecture to us.  This first week was about equipment and protective gear.  I had already done a lot of research and had some hands on experience.  It was mostly review for me, but my wife and kids got something out of it.  Jennifer said that she actually knew some of the stuff they were discussing just from having listened to me over the last few months. 
 

The class was focused on Langstroth hives and discussed some of the differences between 8 and 20 frame hives; the differences between deep, medium, and shallow bodies; and the different types of frames and foundations.  I had already bought my equipment and will discuss my reasoning in my VLOG.  The last lesson of the night was about site location and a little about honeybees themselves. 
 

After class we talked with Bill and Terri from Finksburg Fields Apiary.  They lost over half their colonies this year so I going to look into what may have caused that.  Then we reviewed some of what my sons had learned and got their thoughts on the class.  They both seemed to learn some interesting facts and look forward to next week’s class.  
 

Every day is a new beginning.

First Video and Order Update

Well it appears I am about to start my adventure in earnest this week.  I spoke with Brushy Mountain and my order is on the truck.  This Wednesday I start my beginner beekeeper class.  My family will be in attendance with me and I am uber excited.  I can't wait for day one.  With any luck, my order will be here this week.  I will have to get started painting.  One of the first things I plan to do at the class is to see who they recommend getting bees from.  I already know I am getting a Nucleus Hive (Nuc) from my neighbor Larry.  It has been suggested that I order a package of bees as well so I have something compare/contrast with.  Now is the time to order bees (before vendors sell out) so I need to get hot on that.

In other news, I have ventured into my vlog.  I have created an intro that will be at the beginning of all of my videos.  It can be found HERE,  Let me know what you think.  It is about 20 seconds long.  Do you think it is too long?  Is the music alright.  Any advice is appreciated.  The vlog is being produced for you the viewers.  I would like to make it something you enjoy.  I hope to have my first actual entry this week.  I will let you know when it goes up.

Here are the things that I have found that you should be doing at this point in the beekeeping year.  As stated before, if you are brand new, you need to order bees and start gathering your hive hardware.  For you more experienced beekeepers here is some information I found and some other "things to do".

Queens often start laying soon after the winter solstice and the workers eat more honey to keep the brood warm. Quickly peek in your hives to see where the cluster is. If they are in the top box they probably have, or will run out of honey.  They will need to be fed. Feed them Bee Candy, Fondant, or granulated sugar on a sheet of newspaper.  Feed until the bees stop eating it, then remove it from the hive because it is a magnet for Small Hive Beetles.

Until next time...