The Honey Factory

[Apis mellifera]

I saw a post about basswood honey . Not many basswood around me . At the cabin there are a lot of basswood . Said to make excellent comb honey .

It does, basswood honey has a mild mint/menthol flavor to it. Back in the day when beekeepers planted basswood forests and kept bees in them, they would cut down some trees to make basswood sections. I'm not sure if they still use basswood to make the sections, but you can still get them. In my area now is a good time to get ready for sumac comb honey. I think the species near me has kind of a vanilla flavor to it.

 

[Apis mellifera]

How would anyone know it’s basswood? There are so many other things blooming at the same time a basswood does.

Basswood/Linden trees produce a lot of nectar and bees love it. Once you taste it you'll know. They are definitely worth planting.

 

[duluthralphie]

Basswood/Linden trees produce a lot of nectar and bees love it. Once you taste it you'll know. They are definitely worth planting.

I have a lot of them near my cabin, some here but not as many as there. I have a lot of sumac around me.

 

[jerryse]

Moved the swarm trap into a 10 frame . Some burr comb on bottom of frames with brood and honey . Tasted some . Minty flavor so maybe they have been into basswood . There is a huge basswood in the woods .

 

[jerryse]

Added a brood box to the May swarm hive . They were getting crowded . Did some checker boarding of the frames to get them to draw out comb . Last years June hive is drawing out comb in the super . The May nuc is doing good . Checker boarded some frames . Might be ready for a brood box in a couple of weeks . Need to buy more frames and make a couple of super boxes . I started buying unassembled frames . A brad nailer works for nailing together .

 

[itsasmallfarm]

Added the second box to my bee hives. My mentor said they are doing good. One is stronger then the other hive.

He also marked the queen so we know where she is or should i say easier to find.

No bear activity for a week or so now. Hope it got a good Zap!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Update on the failing nuc I installed into my long hive.
When I went to get the nuc they couldn't find the marked queen, so the guy searched around and found the queen unmarked and marked her. I had a bad feeling about this but said nothing. I'm a woman who tries to avoid confrontations because I had some social anxiety and I know I don't know everything.
They have you look at nucs with them because they have a NO refund policy.
Fast forward to the present: The nuc never built even 1 frame of comb, never had any worker brood and I realized they had a horrible nosema infection. After all of this I have come to believe that it was a laying worker the guy marked.
No more nucs for me, I'll pass.

 

[duluthralphie]

Added a brood box to the May swarm hive . They were getting crowded . Did some checker boarding of the frames to get them to draw out comb . Last years June hive is drawing out comb in the super . The May nuc is doing good . Checker boarded some frames . Might be ready for a brood box in a couple of weeks . Need to buy more frames and make a couple of super boxes . I started buying unassembled frames . A brad nailer works for nailing together .

I bought 5 last week. I used small headed screws. 1 deep and 4 mediums.

I need to go back to the bee store. I didn’t get the frames I paid for.

 

[duluthralphie]

Update on the failing nuc I installed into my long hive.
When I went to get the nuc they couldn't find the marked queen, so the guy searched around and found the queen unmarked and marked her. I had a bad feeling about this but said nothing. I'm a woman who tries to avoid confrontations because I had some social anxiety and I know I don't know everything.
They have you look at nucs with them because they have a NO refund policy.
Fast forward to the present: The nuc never built even 1 frame of comb, never had any worker brood and I realized they had a horrible nosema infection. After all of this I have come to believe that it was a laying worker the guy marked.
No more nucs for me, I'll pass.

Nucs are not all bad.

unfortunately we need to rely on some honesty. Try nucs somewhere else.

 

[duluthralphie]

Added the second box to my bee hives. My mentor said they are doing good. One is stronger then the other hive.

He also marked the queen so we know where she is or should i say easier to find.

No bear activity for a week or so now. Hope it got a good Zap!

Bear roast is a good way to assure they won’t bother bees again.