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It seems that Hurricane Irene revealed some feral bee hives that people fought over in the aftermath.. Andrea Morales/The New York Times see article http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/bee-rescue/?scp=1&sq=bees+rueb&st |
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8.31.2011
Bad Bee- Havior After Irene
8.30.2011
Late August Hive Check
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| Portrait of a Honeybee from Luba's hive |
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| Anya' s girls making Honey again |
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| Close up, Luba's hive |
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| Detail, Luba's Brood comb |
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| Luba's Brood |
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| More honey in the works |
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| Propolis connections Luba's Hive |
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| Beautiful View of Luba's honeybees at work |
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| Anya's girls tending be bread, pollen and brood |
8.24.2011
Sweet Inspiration
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| These are very small studies in oil on canvas that I started to paint after working with the hives. I am amazed at the many colors of pollen and honey in the hive and my attempt to capture it is a pity compared to nature's marvelous artistry and industry! |
Bees Hanging Out on the North Side of Things
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| For the last few days the bees have been doing something very curious. They have been hanging out on the North side of the hives and also on the North side of this ceramic piece in the front yard. There is no queen with them, and it is not shaded in any way either.. They are also hanging out on the north side of the hive entrances.. I love their golden colors against the blue. Anybody know why? They did this for about 3 to 4 days before and after the East Coast Earthquake, and then stopped. |
Flowers Blooming Now in Our Garden
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| Nacotiches Noisette |
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| Not sure what this is!(?) |
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| lantana |
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| Scentimental Rose |
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| purple clematis |
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| Buckwheat |
8.23.2011
Busy Bees on Passionflower or "MayPop" Blossoms
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| Close up of honey bee on Passionflower or " May Pop" bloom |
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8.20.2011
The Bees are loving the Passionflowers Blooming Now in Our Garden
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| Incoming! Notice the Bumblebee already there? |
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| Detail of her approach... |
8.19.2011
Caring for Bees During a Drought
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| My homemade Bee Waterer made from ceramic jar bottoms and pebbles I placed it under the porch roof to catch rainwater and dew and I refresh it everyday to keep out mosquitos if you look carefully, you can see bees drinking on the bottom center and right. |
But Bees really need water not only to drink, but to also keep the hive cool.
They can use up to a quart a day when it get hot.
So when putting out water for bees, it is important to remember a few things.
First things first;
Bees cannot swim, and need something to climb out onto to get a drink.
This can be a stick, a brick or statue immersed in the birth bath, or rocks and pebbles.
I put pebbles and small rocks in large pot bottoms and the bees love it.
This can be a stick, a brick or statue immersed in the birth bath, or rocks and pebbles.
I put pebbles and small rocks in large pot bottoms and the bees love it.
Bees also love to forage for water so a little extra watering of the lawn near their hive helps.
Spray the grass, or water the lawn regularly with a good gentle oscillator.
Walter Kelly suggests floating sponges in bird baths.
Walter Kelly suggests floating sponges in bird baths.
Also one more tip from Walter Kelly-
Bees evidently love watermelon just as much as we do. If you have an old one, or rinds, place them near the hives for them to feed on.
Learn more about Walter at https://kelleybees.com/
8.15.2011
Taking Advantage of the Summer Sun to Melt and Refine Wax
A few videos from various sources on how to melt and filter beeswax
Proud to be a Louisiana Beekeeper!
There are currently only about 380 Beekeepers in Louisiana.
I am a hobbyist Louisiana Beekeeper.
I am a hobbyist Louisiana Beekeeper.
If you are interested in adding to that number...
Join a local beekeeping organization!
Find out about what it takes before you buy the bees and equipment.
Louisiana Beekeeping Association
Local Beekeeping Associations
http://www.labeekeepers.org/local.htm
Even if you can't or don't wish to be a beekeeper, you can
Support Louisiana bees by keeping fresh water in your garden,
Planting fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables and berries for them to pollinate,
and limiting your use of pesticides.
Please support Louisiana Beekeepers
by buying local Louisiana Honey!
Even if you can't or don't wish to be a beekeeper, you can
Support Louisiana bees by keeping fresh water in your garden,
Planting fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables and berries for them to pollinate,
and limiting your use of pesticides.
Please support Louisiana Beekeepers
by buying local Louisiana Honey!
Nurse Bees
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| A newly hatched baby bee tending the Brood |
A newly hatched baby bee has lots of golden "hairs" or " fur" on its face . They start working to feed the Queen and tend the newly laid eggs and larvae that will become fellow worker bees in the hive.( Four stages of a honey bee's life are egg, larva, ( shown above that look like lttle worms) Pupa, and Bee. The newly hatched Nurse Bees feed the larva royal jelly and they feed the older larve "Bee Bread" which is a fermented pollen mixture that they make, and honey of course!
8.11.2011
Dances with Bees
A few you tube videos explaining the "waggle dance " of the bees and what it means...
8.10.2011
Bee Humor
" Well, Hello Honey!"  |
What did the confused bee say? |
"To bee or not to bee?"
What did the bee order for lunch at the diner?
A humm-burger!
Who is the bees favorite singer? Sting!
Why do bees have sticky hair?
Because of the honey combs
Why did the queen bee kick out all of the other bees?Because they kept droning on and on.....
What did the hot bee say to the other hot bee this Summer?
"S'warm here, isn't it?"
Who is the bee's favorite Dancer and Choreographer?
BUZZ-BEE Berkeley!
Bees Have Five Eyes!
Bees all have 5 eyes;
Two on each side of their face for day vision and
Three small eyes on the top of their heads for seeing in the dim light of the hive.
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| A Bee Meeting on the landing board. |
Bees Taste with Their Feet!
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| Bees have taste receptors on all of their feet! This is one of Luba's Bees dusted with confectioner's sugar. Notice the shapes on the end of her feet. |
Hot August Hive Check
It has been extremely dry and hot- 100F in the shade on the North porch! Whew!
So I didn't now what to expect..
They have definitely been gathering the buckwheat pollen, as their honey is darker and buttery and delicious, although there is not as much of it as before,maybe at most two frames as the nectar is not flowing so much in this dreadful heat. I have been putting out extra water in containers equipped with "bee- ladders" so they won't drown. This hive check, there was still a whole lot of freshly laid brood in each hive, and I dusted them both with a confectioners's sugar bath.
We also had a friend come visit and video the hive so I can't wait to see what he puts together to help people understand that we must pay attention and care for the bees.
So I didn't now what to expect..
They have definitely been gathering the buckwheat pollen, as their honey is darker and buttery and delicious, although there is not as much of it as before,maybe at most two frames as the nectar is not flowing so much in this dreadful heat. I have been putting out extra water in containers equipped with "bee- ladders" so they won't drown. This hive check, there was still a whole lot of freshly laid brood in each hive, and I dusted them both with a confectioners's sugar bath.
We also had a friend come visit and video the hive so I can't wait to see what he puts together to help people understand that we must pay attention and care for the bees.
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| Luba's hive is still larger and more productive than Anya's Hive. Luba lays more eggs, while Anya makes more honey. |
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| Any's brood comb |
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| Nice clear board checks! |
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| Workers pulling comb |
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| Honey on the comb |
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| Activity inside the hive |
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| Luba's Brood Comb |
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| A little extra brood on the bottom of the frame |
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| Detail of luba's Brood comb with Bee bread( pollen) on the left. |
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| Luba's Brood comb |
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| Luba's freshly laid brood larvae |
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| Beautifully shaped curve at the bottom of Luba's brood comb |
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| Luba's workers tending the Beebread ( pollen ) stores |
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| Luba's landing board |
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| Side view of Luba's Hive and the smoker |
A Few Important Beekeepers from History
Aristotle
Democritus
Hippocrates
Lycurgus
Benjamin Franklin
Leo Tolstoy
Karl von Frisch - Bee dance documentarian who won the Nobel Prizefor his bee research.
Nichel Jacob discovered that workers raise a new queen from larvae.
Martin John discovered that bees make wax in 1684
A.I. Root
John Dzierzon
L.L. Langstroth - This minister designed the beehive commonly used in Medina, Ohio in 1851.
He wrote- The Hive and the Honey Bee, 1853
Abbe Collin, a French Beekeeper, invented the queen excluder in 1865.
Gregor Mendel- geneticist beekeeper
Johannes Mehring -a German beekeeperan inventor of the wax comb foundation, 1857
Anton Janscha, the Solvenian Royal Beekeeper, who discovered how bees mate.
Francois Huber-blind naturalist who discovered "bee space"
harlan J. Smith, Ph. D. astronomer and Beekeeper
Dobbs- a beekeeper and botanist who documented bees as pollinators.
Charles Mraz-a beekeeper and apitherapist for over 60 years.
Charles Henry Turner, Ph.D. , research and writings on bee color vision, shape and pattern recognition, and feeding times, 1890+.
E C Porter - An American invented the Porter Bee Escape, in 1891.
Karl Kehrle or Benedictine Monk known as Brother Adam who developed the Buckfast bee.
Charles Butler, who discovered that the supposed "King Bee" was actually a female and that Drones were males in1609. He wrote Feminine Monarchie.
Thomas Wildman wrote Treatise on the Management of Bees, 1768
Berbard de Mandeville wrote the Fable of the Bees, 1723
Dr. Eva Crane wrote Archeology of Beekeeping & Honey
Peter Prokopovich
St. Ambrose
Napoleon Bonaparte
Le Quy Quynh
Luis Mendez de Torres
Henry Fonda
Peter Fonda
Matt Damon
Scarlett Johansson
Brigham Young
Viktor Yushchenko
Sir Edmund Hillary
Pope Urban III
George Washington
Prince Cesi of Italy
Martha Stewart
Maria von Trapp
Maurice Maeterlinck
Raymond Poincare
Democritus
Hippocrates
Lycurgus
Benjamin Franklin
Leo Tolstoy
Karl von Frisch - Bee dance documentarian who won the Nobel Prizefor his bee research.
Nichel Jacob discovered that workers raise a new queen from larvae.
Martin John discovered that bees make wax in 1684
A.I. Root
John Dzierzon
Moses Quinby - This beekeeper invented the modern bee smoker in 1875- He wrote Mysteries of Bee-Keeping Explained, 1853
L.L. Langstroth - This minister designed the beehive commonly used in Medina, Ohio in 1851.
He wrote- The Hive and the Honey Bee, 1853
Abbe Collin, a French Beekeeper, invented the queen excluder in 1865.
Gregor Mendel- geneticist beekeeper
Johannes Mehring -a German beekeeperan inventor of the wax comb foundation, 1857
Anton Janscha, the Solvenian Royal Beekeeper, who discovered how bees mate.
Francois Huber-blind naturalist who discovered "bee space"
harlan J. Smith, Ph. D. astronomer and Beekeeper
Dobbs- a beekeeper and botanist who documented bees as pollinators.
Charles Mraz-a beekeeper and apitherapist for over 60 years.
Charles Henry Turner, Ph.D. , research and writings on bee color vision, shape and pattern recognition, and feeding times, 1890+.
E C Porter - An American invented the Porter Bee Escape, in 1891.
Karl Kehrle or Benedictine Monk known as Brother Adam who developed the Buckfast bee.
Charles Butler, who discovered that the supposed "King Bee" was actually a female and that Drones were males in1609. He wrote Feminine Monarchie.
Thomas Wildman wrote Treatise on the Management of Bees, 1768
Berbard de Mandeville wrote the Fable of the Bees, 1723
Dr. Eva Crane wrote Archeology of Beekeeping & Honey
Peter Prokopovich
St. Ambrose
Napoleon Bonaparte
Le Quy Quynh
Luis Mendez de Torres
Henry Fonda
Peter Fonda
Matt Damon
Scarlett Johansson
Brigham Young
Viktor Yushchenko
Sir Edmund Hillary
Pope Urban III
George Washington
Prince Cesi of Italy
Martha Stewart
Maria von Trapp
Maurice Maeterlinck
Raymond Poincare
8.08.2011
The Amazing Louisiana Honeybee
There are usually between- 20,000 an 60,000 bees in a hive, depending on many factors, such as age, time of year, etc.
There is usually only 1 queen, and about 200 drones,
and the rest are worker bees.
Worker bees live only about 6-8 months.
In that short time, they do a multitude of tasks and are in constant motion.
They:
Take care of the queen
Take care of the young bees,
Honey bees, produce and build the wax combs that form the brood hive and honeycomb,
They gather the pollens and nectars for the hive and
Make the Honey, and Bee bread.
Field Bees can travel up to 3-5 miles (600 acres) to find nectar for the hive.
To produce just 1 pound of honey, the bees must visit about 2 million flowers!
They also come back to the hive and dance so that the other bees know where to find food.
Guard Bees defend the hive.
Don't forget that...
The humble, hardworking honeybee is also the Louisiana State Insect!
There is usually only 1 queen, and about 200 drones,
and the rest are worker bees.
Worker bees live only about 6-8 months.
In that short time, they do a multitude of tasks and are in constant motion.
They:
Take care of the queen
Take care of the young bees,
Honey bees, produce and build the wax combs that form the brood hive and honeycomb,
They gather the pollens and nectars for the hive and
Make the Honey, and Bee bread.
Field Bees can travel up to 3-5 miles (600 acres) to find nectar for the hive.
To produce just 1 pound of honey, the bees must visit about 2 million flowers!
They also come back to the hive and dance so that the other bees know where to find food.
Guard Bees defend the hive.
Don't forget that...
The humble, hardworking honeybee is also the Louisiana State Insect!
8.03.2011
The Buckwheat is Blooming
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| Detail of Buckwheat Blooms |
Buckwheat was first cultivated in Asia as early as 6000 BC. The flour is used in the production of many foods worldwide, such as pancakes, the Belgian ( Wallonian) "boûketes" Japanese Soba Noodles, beer, tea and much more. Buckwheat contains no gluten, and is highly nutritous. I can't wait to see how it effects the flavor and color of the honey in the hives.
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| Nice patch growing along the driveway |
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