The Honey Factory

[R2elk]

Here's a pic ohttps://lh6.googleusercontent.com/9Zt_PBQGvQoQ5rA2fYw09cT3gWikQTbx4XgICBXo_mhU5QhvKe_b2WU6R83056V_sz5ucwuOFN9bcbzYKeeGdB8jXK19ZBvXzLinD18N1mtso3_MN2JlRexyiMNKyN85m8JP5l4f our Pine Barrens Tree Frog in NJ

Link doesn't work for me.

"400. That’s an error.

Your client has issued a malformed or illegal request. That’s all we know."

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Link doesn't work for me.

"400. That’s an error.

Your client has issued a malformed or illegal request. That’s all we know."

I'll try another

 

[5Australorpasaures]

I'll try another

 

[R2elk]

I'll try another

I grew up back east and am quite familiar with a myriad of tree frogs. Google says that the Boreal Chorus frog is the only tree frog in Wyoming.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Here's a question for all you keepers of bees. Do you smoke your hive entrance before going in? Myself I don't. I lift the top, blow smoke under the cover, give 'em a few seconds to go down then go to work. My mentor back in the '80s said, "why smoke the entrance driving the bees up when you are working from the top down?". Made sense and I've stuck with it. Another thing he taught me, if you work without gloves smoke your hands, it helps, I can say it seems to. still get wacked, but they wacked me with gloves too.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Here's a question for all you keepers of bees. Do you smoke your hive entrance before going in? Myself I don't. I lift the top, blow smoke under the cover, give 'em a few seconds to go down then go to work. My mentor back in the '80s said, "why smoke the entrance driving the bees up when you are working from the top down?". Made sense and I've stuck with it. Another thing he taught me, if you work without gloves smoke your hands, it helps, I can say it seems to. still get wacked, but they wacked me with gloves too.

I use a smoker. I smoke the bees at the entrance a bit because that's where the guard bees are hanging out.

 

[R2elk]

Here's a question for all you keepers of bees. Do you smoke your hive entrance before going in? Myself I don't. I lift the top, blow smoke under the cover, give 'em a few seconds to go down then go to work. My mentor back in the '80s said, "why smoke the entrance driving the bees up when you are working from the top down?". Made sense and I've stuck with it. Another thing he taught me, if you work without gloves smoke your hands, it helps, I can say it seems to. still get whacked, but they whacked me with gloves too.

On my gentle hives, I do not smoke at all.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

I use a smoker. I smoke the bees at the entrance a bit because that's where the guard bees are hanging out.

Working from the back I never really gave it a thought, never really had any aggression from any of the strain I have now. Years ago had a super strong and overly aggressive hive, great producer, had to work fully suited. I went in expecting to get whacked and they never disappointed me!

 

[R2elk]

Working from the back I never really gave it a thought, never really had any aggression from any of the strain I have now. Years ago had a super strong and overly aggressive hive, great producer, had to work fully suited. I went in expecting to get whacked and they never disappointed me!

Been there, done that. Fortunately the USPS in Texas forced me to find a different supplier after they held the package bees until they were dead before shipping them on.

 

[Apis mellifera]

I use a smoker. I smoke the bees at the entrance a bit because that's where the guard bees are hanging out.

Thats a good practice, smoke helps to mask alarm pheromones produced by guard bees.

I lift the top, blow smoke under the cover, give 'em a few seconds to go down then go to work.

A lot of beekeepers do it that way and it works just fine.

My mentor back in the '80s said, "why smoke the entrance driving the bees up when you are working from the top down?".

I dont use so much smoke that Im driving them in any direction. Only in rare cases when Im doing something like changing out hive bodies. You'll see two kinds of beekeepers in videos, the experienced ones that use one hand to give them a puff to keep the bees calm and the not so experienced that are puffing away two handed driving the bees out of the entrance.

Another thing he taught me, if you work without gloves smoke your hands, it helps, I can say it seems to. still get wacked, but they wacked me with gloves too.

Smoking your hands or rubbing in wintergreen alcohol are things taught to new bees to boost confidence. Personally, I think they are Dumbos feather.

I dont use much smoke this time of year, it depends on the hive and time of year and what Im doing. A quick check to see if a nuc or colony is queenright doesnt require smoke. My bees can be defensive in the fall or if they have been queenless for some time, so I'll keep a smoker lit when Im working them more at the end of the season. If you're checking two or three colonies quick, you can get with very little or no smoke at all. But once you get into working 20 or 30 hives things can get a bit out of control and its best to always have a smoker lit for the safety of the keeper and the bees.