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This website talks about design/layout. It also says you should plant bee-friendly plants that are native to your area. The best reference would be a local botanical garden to find out what plants are native and attract bees. Hope this helps...

Me, too! http://www.honeyflow.com

Chickens and bees, what could be better? I am new to both as of 2014 and I'm still getting through the learning curve!

We just make sugar cakes by using just enough water to wet the dry sugar and then put it in a cake pan to dry for a few days. It makes a giant sugar cube!

Ours swarmed last summer and I would say about 40% left. But they made a new queen and the hive survived.

Thanks to all for the condolences. We already ordered a colony for spring as Plan B. Figured we would start a second hive if the original colony survived.

Went to check on the hive today and all the bees are dead. I think it was a combination of too much moisture and a January-like cold snap for most of November.

I also know somebody that has 3 hives that put up electric fence to keep out bears. I don't think they have ever had a bear encounter, but it is preventative.

Thanks for your suggestions! I should have noted that my husband switched over from syrup to a sugar cube/block a little while ago. Not sure if that is the same as fondant. We read the same thing you said about too much moisture from the syrup. The queen excluder is already out because we...

Does anybody want to share their overwintering techniques for their bees? Especially in the cold, northern states? This is our first year with bees and we are going to attempt to overwinter them, but I heard the survival rate here is only 50% (last year was only 30%). What we have done so...

We did put the entrance reducer back in so the hive opening is much smaller. We only have one hive - this is our first hive and first year. We did pollen patties and syrup early in the spring/summer, but we stopped once the bees found nectar.

Question for the beekeepers...we went to check on our hive the other day and found wasps infiltrating! Robbers! We put the entrance reducer back in so the honeybees would have a better chance at guarding the hive. As soon as we did that it seemed that the honeybees at the entrance would...

Congrats on your healthy hive!

Thanks for sharing and including pictures. I am a visual person and it is helpful to see how others do things.

This is my first year with bees and we had a swarm so they it looks like they are not going to give us any surplus honey this year. But I was intrigued on your heat gun method of removing the caps. Do the caps melt down the frame then? Do you hold the frame tipped at an angle so the caps can...

We just have a 4-foot wooden picket fence around the hive, but we do not really have bears by us. A friend of mine that has three hives has electric fencing around his.

First, let me say...purple honey?!? Coolest thing I have ever seen and you have taught me something new. Second...your avatar is hilarious.

That was me...yesterday! That's what I get for trying to sneak a peek at a few frames with no gear while my husband was inspecting the hive.

Thanks for the encouragement. Agreed that bees do not need as much attention as chickens, but it is still a lot of work when you are rebuilding an old hive and building a coop from scratch at the same time! Anyway, the bees are his and the chickens are mine but I help with hive inspections...

I think I'll join the conversation. We got bees for the first time this May before we even had chickens. I told my husband that we probably shouldn't get both in the same year, but here we are, learning a day at a time! The bees were doing so well! We added a second brood box and then a...