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Greetings!

Bee Pollinating a Flower

I would like to thank all of you that helped us reach the 250+ votes through Facebook to qualify for the grant from Chase/Living Social. There was a great deal of excitement at the Bee Farm when we qualified. Thank you for your support! Now we wait.

Most of you have made it through the strong spring nectar flow with flourishing hives. Your bees have worked hard, as their primary goal was to store a surplus of nectar and maintain the hive population. Now you have honey supers full of capped honey and must decide if your bees will need this surplus of honey or are you going to be able to harvest these frames.

As you make this decision, keep in mind the hive will need 60-80 pounds of honey to survive winter. I know it is difficult to think about winter with temperatures reaching 100+ in may parts of the country. However, during July and August there is usually less nectar available which means a strong colony may consume more then they make. It is critical that you monitor hives to ensure they have the food necessary to remain healthy and survive winter. If you harvest be prepared to supplement with either corn syrup or sugar water.

It is always exciting to be able to extract the first nectar flow of the season. It is a joy to taste the honey your bees have collected; no other honey will taste better! Ensure that you have the proper equipment to harvest and extract your honey.

Cheers,

Shane Gebauer

Brushy Mountain Bee Farm

Upcoming Events

July 12-14: North Carolina Beekeepers Association Summer meeting - Lumberton, NC
July 19-21: South Carolina Beekeepers Association Summer meeting - Clemson, SC
July 25 Hive Tracks goes mobile webinar - see below for more information.

Such a great year for honey! The honey harvest season is here and many beekeepers are already extracting honey. Receive 10% off our harvesting equipment during the month of July!!!

Harvesting Season Special

Get our Natural Honey Harvester with the Fume Pad or use our Escape Screen to make your harvesting season easy.

Back to the Basics

Your colonies hard work and their surplus of capped honey should give you plenty to extract. Uncapping is the first key step in preparing your frames for extracting. Your colonies have delicately drawn out comb and capped over honey so when uncapping these frames, ensure that you are not tearing apart the comb. This will require less for your bees to repair and limit your time in straining your honey.

Frame of Honey

The number of frames you are uncapping and the time you want to spend during this step is dependent on the method you should proceed with.

Using an Uncappings Scratcher is an easy way to work small sections of capped honey at one time. Slide underneath the comb at a horizontal angle, lift vertically and remove cap.
A Cold/Hot Knife will remove larger sections of capped honey from the frame. Place at a slight angle along the top and continue to saw down the frame, removing the capped comb. A Cold Knife has a serrated blade whereas the Hot Knife melts away the wax.
If time is of importance, the Sideline Uncapper is a quick and easy method. Run your frames through and the thin blades will uncap both sides of the frame. Tub underneath will catch debris.

The nectar flow seems to be bountiful and persisting through the summer months so many beekeepers will get the opportunity to harvest more than once. Make sure you are uncapping your frames properly, so that your bees may reuse them. Here is a link to see the above items in action.

Tips for Success

Entrance Reducer

This is a new section that we have added to the e-flier and we are turning to you to help us with it. We are asking you to submit to us your tips, tricks, and keys to successful beekeeping. Each month we will select a winning entry and publish it in the subsequent e-flier giving credit to the winner. The winner will also receive 10% off their next order.

Entries must be emailed to info@brushymountainbeefarm.com with "Tip for success" in the subject line. Please include a day time phone number at which you can be reached should you be chosen as the winner.

This month's winner is Doug Lively. Honey bees will gather a surplus of honey during the nectar flow in order to sustain a food supply during the summer dearth and winter. During a dearth or late summer when the flow stops, robbing can become an issue. Using an entrance reducer and closing off any upper entrances will help your colony defend against these robbing bees.

Doug had noticed a "robbery in progress" with robbing bees trying to enter his hive. Using a more aggressive method, he "went in the house and got a sack of powdered sugar. Taking a handful of powdered sugar, I flung, yes, flung it at the bees in front of the hive, covering them. After a few minutes they had stopped..."

You will not find robbing bees while there is a strong nectar flow, it is only when the flow ceases that your hive will be perceptive to robbers. Robbing is dependent upon the availability of natural resources. Scarce and unavailable sources of nectar will increase the intensity of robbing. Hives will become attracted to neighboring hives with stored honey. It is typically the stronger colonies that will send out foragers to rob honey from the weaker colonies.

Each hive will have their own guard bees to protect themselves from robbers. This is an added stress on your hive to make certain that other bees are not able to enter their hive. Should robbers succeed, it could lead to the death and destruction of that colony.

The best defense against robbing is to have a strong colony.
If your colony appears to be weak or during a dearth, reduce the entrances to help them better protect their hive.
Ensure that all upper entrances are closed off.
During a robbing, spraying down the robber bees with water (or fling powdered sugar) will slow them down and help your colony repel them.
Install a Moving and Robbing Screen.

Each beekeeper will have their own specific method to help prevent robbing but the idea is to help your hive guard it's entrance.

Congratulations Doug, and for you tip being chosen, you will receive 10% off your next order!!!

Question of the Month

The simple question many beekeepers keep asking is: What kind of extractor do I need to extract my honey? Beekeepers, new to the industry, get excited about extracting their honey but are unsure on what the best methods are or what equipment they will need.

Extractors are either tangential or radial. Tangential extractors seat frames parallel to the center and only extract one side during the spin cycle. Radial extractors seat frames perpendicular to the center (like spokes on a wheel) and will extract both sides at once. Smaller extractors are hand cranked, whereas extractors that will accommodate more frames are generally powered by a motor.

Radial extractor loaded with medium frames of honey.

There are three main factors that will influence beekeepers in purchasing an extractor. What is your time worth? The importance of time holds a significant value when you consider extracting 20 supers (160 - 180 frames) in a Compact Extractor (an estimated 7-8 hours). How many hives do you perceive yourself having in the next 5 years? You might have two hives this year but once you have the 10 to 20 hives, you will outgrow your equipment unless you plan in advance. What is your budget? Purchasing an extractor is an investment. You might not be ready to invest in a 9-Frame Radial Extractor while you are managing two hives, so we suggest you speak with your beekeeper association to see if you can borrow an extractor until you are ready. Also remember, extractors will hold their value if you intend to resale.

Extractors

Always plan for what you intend to manage in the future and know what extractor will accommodate those needs. Having a 9-frame or 18-frame powered extractor will save you time and make your experience easier as you grow your hives.

Candy's Corner

Hi, Everyone!

I hope that everyone is having a good honey season. I have harvested 60 pounds so far and still have more to harvest. My problem is that my girls are storing up way too much pollen; I have frames and frames of it. I have talked with other beekeepers and they are having the same problem. Anyone have any ideas as why this is happening?

On a happier note, my hives are looking better. My mother hive is back to normal, if you can say that about a hive, since I "dumped" the queen back in there. She is back to laying nice brood patterns and all the girls are back on task doing their thing.

Queen Bee

It's a different story with my split hive. I went back in a couple weeks after discovering the capped queen cell and there was still no eggs, larva, or capped brood. My hive was queenless! I can only assume that my queen did not make it back from her mating flight, who knows. I ordered a new queen; of course it took me a few days because I'm a procrastinator. Well guess what, by the time my new "beauty" arrived and I went to install her, I had a laying worker!! If you have never encountered this predicament, I pray that you don't. I felt like I was trying out for the Olympics, running back and forth dumping the boxes to rid my hive of the laying worker. Let me tell you, the bees are NOT happy about this scenario either! Thank goodness for my suit and veil, I'm sure I had a thousand stings. A few I can confirm.

I finally got all the bees dumped out and my new queen installed. I checked the hive last week and everything looked good until I saw a capped swarm cell! I cut it out, which was probably a mistake. I can't believe they are trying to take my $23 dollar queen and hit the road. I've decided that when I go back into the hive, I will leave things as they are and hope for the best. I have a feeling with my luck; I'll be spending another $23 dollars.

See you at the Bee Farm!

Webinars

These are free; however, advanced registration is required.

Title: Hive Tracks Goes Mobile
Date: Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EDT

Hive Tracks is a free online record keeping service, and record keeping is a very important part of being successful in beekeeping. Learn how this service can help as well as some really exciting new features that make it even easier. Learn how you can scan a code with a smart device and instantly start a new inspection of that hive in your account.

To register, Click Here

The Bee Farm

Upcoming Events

Back to Basics

Tips for Success