Bee Art

Can I brag a little about my man here? I am in LOVE with his bee art! He takes plastic foundation, cuts it into different shapes, and puts it in the beehive. Here are the results. What do you think?

He got the idea from his beekeeping grandpa, Arthur Andersen, who did a profile of Abraham Lincoln in beeswax. Here is Stan's version. 

By the way, if you see some really awesome photos here, the credit goes to 

Nina Cochran, of Studio 111.

Fish in Honeycomb

Stan entered the fish in honeycomb in the Springville, UT Art Museum Religion and Art Show. It is reminiscent of Jesus eating fish and honeycomb after he was resurrected.

This one is by far my favorite!

Happy Halloween

Stan carved this Three-Eyed-Bee-Eater from an irregularly-shaped knot hole in one of his nuc boxes. The bees really like having an extra entrance like this one. 

We wanted to remind any beekeepers reading this that fall is a good time to treat for varroa mites, if you are going to be treating. 

Transferring a nuc into a hive body

Transferring Nucs

Photo of Stan teaching a group how to transfer a nuc from a nuc box into a hive body box

Part of our May beekeeping classes include how to transfer a hive nucleus into a standard hive body. Here is a description of how to do it for those who missed the class. (A hive nucleus, or “nuc” for short, includes bees on five frames. It does not include the box. So when people purchase nucs they transfer the frames into a standard hive body box.)

This process is best done during daylight hours. Prepare the hive body by placing it on the bottom board and removing at least 6 frames. Stan removed 7 in this photo. Removing frames will give you room to place the nuc frames without squishing bees. 

Move the nuc box over a bit and place the new hive body in its place. Be sure the hive entrance is pointing the same way. Bees have a good idea where their hive is supposed to be and will go in the hive that is in the right GPS location. 

Give bees a little smoke at the entrance. Open the lid and give bees a little smoke along the top bars of the frames. Give just enough smoke to move bees down onto the comb.

Use the hive tool to pry out one ear of one frame. 

Gently lift one frame out. Lift straight up to avoid smashing bees. 

This photo is of the outermost frame of bees. Bees have drawn out comb, but have not started filling this one with honey or brood yet. 

Gently place the frames into the new hive body in the same order and orientation as in the nuc box. 

Next, slide the frames next to each other to make room.

Continue placing frames and sliding them over until all 5 frames from the nuc are in the box. Then replace the remaining empty frames until you have all ten in the box (or nine if you run nine frames). 

There will be bees left inside the nuc box. Stan’s preferred (fast) method is to take the nuc box, turn it upside down and hit it sharply onto the top of the box (one quick tap will do it). This causes all the bees to drop out of the nuc box into the new hive body box. Be sure to remove the nuc box a few feet away. Bees may recognize the smell of their old box and want to go back inside. 

Place the lid on the bee box and wait until dark before moving it at least 3 miles away for 3 days. 

Nuc Pickup and Beekeeping Class

Our beekeeping class at The Star Mill in American Fork was a huge success! Thanks to all who participated and good luck with your bees!

In May, Stan taught three great beginning beekeeping classes to help new hobbyist beekeepers get started. Here are some photos of one event. 

The bee truck, loaded up with beekeeping equipment

Stan talked for about an hour about equipment, bee biology, moving bees, placing hives, etc.

Then we suited up and started up the smokers for the “In the Hive” part of the class.

Stan showed how to transfer a beehive nucleus (“nuc” for short) from the nuc box to a standard hive box. 

Here is the “grimy” diagnostic hive. (The bad example of what you can find in a hive)

He also showed what robbing will look like in a hive. 

And we had a honey extracting demonstration also.

Overall, it was a success. We had a good time and were overwhelmed with information! See you next year!

Blueberry Ginger Orange Scones

I have been making this recipe for about a year now and love it every time. The recipe is adapted from Eat Better America’s Pear-Ginger Scones. Of course I had to substitute honey for sugar and whole wheat flour for white flour. They are still light and amazing! 

I love how versatile this recipe is. I have substituted other types of fruit and spices, but blueberries and ginger are pretty amazing together. And the orange zest really brings out the blueberry flavor. Enjoy! 

Blueberry Ginger Orange Scones 

¾ c Rolled Oats

1 ½ c Whole wheat flour

1/3 c Honey

2 ½ t Baking powder

2 t Ground ginger

2 t Orange zest

1/3 c Stick butter

¾ c Frozen blueberries

1 Egg

1/4 cup Milk

Heat oven to 400F. Grease cookie sheet or spray with non-stick cooking spray. 

In a medium bowl, stir together oats, flour, honey, baking powder, ginger, and orange zest. Cut in butter. Stir in egg and milk. Add blueberries and combine. 

Press dough onto cookie sheet to form an 8 inch circle. It will be about ½ inch thick. 

Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and cut into pie-shaped wedges. Serve immediately.

Installing packages

Here we are getting ready to install some packages. One of these three will be installed into the box behind. 

It’s finally here! Many of our customers have requested a video demonstration of how to install a honeybee package by shaking. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOjGNmdC8nk

Also. . . 

Install the packages as soon as possible after you receive them. It is best to do this in late afternoon or EARLY morning. Wait if it is raining or snowing. 

Do not use smoke when installing the package. The smoke can confuse bee pheromones and cause drift. 

If you need to store packages, keep them in a cool, dark, quiet place. Ideally, the temperature should be between 50 and 70 degrees F. Spray light sugar syrup on the screen cage about every 4 hours. Don’t drown the bees.

Gardening for honeybees

Seeds for a Bee Garden

Seed packet from House of Bees to grow your own honeybee-friendly garden.

We recently received a seed packet sample from House of Bees ( www.houseofbees.com). We produce honey and I love to garden and when I saw their packet, I thought, “Why didn’t I think of that?” We have already started some seeds from it and I can’t wait to see all the flowers! It includes phacelia, catnip, lemon mint, purple coneflower, bachelor’s button, coriander, lemon balm, and borage. 

Their website reminds us to plant a variety of flowers that bloom all season, and to leave a bit of wild space in the yard. Bees like large patches of the same flower best. 

And then I remembered a USU Extension publication on bee gardening. (They have one on butterfly gardening too, in case you are interested.) It is gardening information for attracting native bees, but honeybees will like most of these too. Here is the link. http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/plants-pollinators09.pdf

The real strength of this document is the 5-page table of plants. 

It includes an awesome key I love how they include lots of Utah-native and water-wise plants. Happy gardening!

Beekeeping License

Photo from Grandpa Arthur Andersen's collection in the 1970's.

In the State of Utah, beekeepers need a beekeeping license through the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food in Salt Lake City. 

They keep a record of all beekeeping licenses online, including name, license number, city, county, application and renewal dates, and whether it is active or expired. Anyone can view this. 

You can get an application at http://ag.utah.gov/documents/1201a.pdf

Or you can call 801-538-7184 (UDAF Information).

There is a graduated fee, based on the number of hives. 

http://webapp.ag.utah.gov/LicenseLookup/graduatedFees.jsp

1-20 hives $10

21-100 hives $25

101-500 hives $50

A year in the life of a beekeeper

Wonder what goes on in the life of a beekeeper? Here is a quick summary of what we do on the Wasatch Front in Utah.

January, February, March. In January, many commercial beekeepers are preparing their hives to send to California for pollination. I read yesterday that the California almond groves will require 75% of the nation’s bees! Wow! Once bees are gone, it might be the slowest time of year for beekeepers. Stan uses this time to build and repair beekeeping equipment, organize, and prepare for the coming season. 

Truck with a load of pollinator colonies.

February and March is the time most bees starve. In Utah, warm, sunny, spring-like days are mixed with blizzards. On the sunny stretches, the queen starts laying eggs to increase the work force. Bees have also eaten most of their winter honey storage. When flowers begin to bloom, workers can harvest more nectar and pollen. When flowers are not blooming yet, but bee numbers are increasing, they could starve. We monitor honey levels within the hive and feeds bees more honey and pollen, if necessary. 

March-April is also the time to order packages or nucs.

Checking a colony's weight/honey stores.

April, May, June. April to June is swarm season. We regularly (every 1.5 weeks) check for swarm cells (new queen cells) and either divides the colony or removes the queen cells and adds a super to give bees more room. Bees usually swarm when they run out of room. Stan also spends time catching swarms when they escape. Bees will usually swarm on a warm day following a cold spell. This is the busiest time of year for a beekeeper.

California bees usually come home in early April.

Installing a package.

July-August. In July, beekeepers can starts adding more supers as needed. This is done one at a time when bees start working on the most outside frames of the top box. It is a good idea to move one frame that bees have been working on into the new super to encourage bees to move up into the new box. Some beekeepers continue adding supers all summer and extract honey at the end. Other beekeepers (like Stan) extract honey as bees produce it and then re-use the supers. 

There are not many swarms during this time of year. 

As dandelions bloom, beekeepers move bees to higher elevations. (See dandelions post)

She's ready to go beekeeping with Dad!

September-November. In September, we are done harvesting honey. Everything bees produce after Labor Day stays in the hive for winter feed. As a general rule of thumb, the 2-story bee box should weigh about 100 pounds going into winter. Sometimes we re-queen in the fall, if we didn’t do it in the spring. 

Extra supers need to be stored in a bee- and pest-tight area. 

Some beekeepers winterize by putting inner covers, entrance reducers, and mouse guards on their hives at this time. 

December. This is time to relax, enjoy the holiday season, do some art, and leave bees alone so as to not disrupt their cluster. 

Stan with Bee Art display at Sprinville Art Museum's Religion and Art Show

"Fish in Honeycomb"

--Alicia Moulton