tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70472401609971212582024-03-09T19:45:41.194-07:00Brown's Downtown Bees<a href="http://brownsdowntownbees.blogspot.com/2011/01/browns-downtown-bees.html">Contact Me</a>Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-2329174984001028912014-01-13T10:05:00.002-07:002014-01-13T10:05:33.510-07:00Bees on the Bayou Recap, 2013 American Beekeeping Federation Conference<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I just recently attended the American Beekeeping Federation conference “Bees on the Bayou” and wanted to share a slice of the information I learned from the talks I sat through. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panel Discussion with Dr. Marla Spivak, Dr. Peter Teal, Dr. Jeff Pettis</td></tr>
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<b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Dr. Marion Ellis, Dept of Entomology,</b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> Univ of Nebraska- “Why Bees?” - Dr. Ellis shares his 45 year love story with bees. Beekeeping puts you in touch with the natural world. No bees is not an option.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Fran Boyd, </b>“ABF Legislative Update” - The Farm Bill is in Conference between House and Senate. An important aspect for beekeepers is for the DOT to start treating bees like livestock to make it easier to truck bees. Mr. Boyd recommends that we support the Farm Bill. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_Reform,_Food,_and_Jobs_Act_of_2013_(S._954;_113th_Congress)" target="_blank">2013 Farm Bill</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Dr. Roger Hoopingarner,</b> “Flight and Foraging Dynamics of the Honey Bee” - Bee flight is possible by the use of integument, like the plucking of a violin string. <a href="http://honeybeespeak.com/speakers/roger-hoopingarner/" target="_blank">http://honeybeespeak.com/speakers/roger-hoopingarner/</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Bill Klett, </b>“Breeder Queen Selection Process in the Age of Infinite Honeybee Stress” - To test a cell builder for hygienic behavior, either brood using nitrogen or the poking with a fine needle. Check the area cleaned out after 48 hours. Only after you have selected a breeding pool for nosema resistance, mite resistance and hygienic behavior, can you then select for gentleness, honey production, etc. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Harry Fulton, </b>“What to Expect When the Apiary Inspector Comes Calling” - Bee inspections came about because of Foulbrood and are needed to prevent the spread of infectious bee diseases and pests, in order to obtain movement permits and certifications and consumer protection to prevent a beekeeper from acquiring diseased and or parasite infected honey bees. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Dr. Tom Rinderer, USDA Honey Bee Research Lab,</b> “Russian Bee Breeding” - Between 1997 and 2002, 362 Russian Queens were imported by USDA and 18 lines were selected for mating and are now in the hands of the Russian Queen Breeders Association. Russian bees are more varroa mite resistant then Italians and are gentle, but outcrosses can be aggressive. <a href="http://www.russianbreeders.org/" target="_blank">http://www.russianbreeders.org</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Zach Browning, Browning Honey Company,</b> “How to Evaluate a Good Apiary and Keeping Apiaries in Reserve” - Think like a bee when choosing a site; abundant and clean foraging is key. Avoid roadways, low lying areas, other apiaries, intensely farmed areas and homes, schools and churches. <a href="http://www.browningshoney.com/" target="_blank">http://www.browningshoney.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Thursday, 1/9/14</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Dr. Marla Spivak,</b> “Minnesota: Land of 10,000 Projects to Improve Bee Health” - There is a direct correlation between a propolis envelope within a hive and lower varroa and nosema counts. It is suggested that beekeepers use rough sawn lumber to make beehives or rough up the inside of hive boxes to encourage the build up of a propolis envelope. <a href="http://www.entomology.umn.edu/People/GradFaculty/Spivak/" target="_blank">http://www.entomology.umn.edu/People/GradFaculty/Spivak/</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Jill Clark,</b> “True Source Honey Update” - True Source Honey came about because of Chinese honey dumping in the USA. Honey producers should register as a True Source Honey Producer to show so that 100% of honey can be traceable to country of origin. Customers can find this label on honey. <a href="http://www.truesourcehoney.com/" target="_blank">http://www.truesourcehoney.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Jamie Patreti,</b> “Honey Litigation, Honeygate and Neonics” - Mr. Patreti is part of the law firm representing honey packers. In 2002, there was a worldwide honey scheme that involved 3rd party dumping of Chinese honey through Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia. Now, they are investigating Turkey for 3rd party honey dumping. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>George Hansen</b>, <b>ABF President, </b>“Sustainability” - We need to think about incentives to bring new beekeepers into the industry and start a constructive engagement with the broad agricultural community. <a href="http://www.abfnet.org/index.cfm" target="_blank">http://www.abfnet.org/index.cfm</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Pete Berthelsen, Pheasants Forever</b>, “ Pollinator Habitat Partnership Opportunitiees with Pheasants and Quails Forever” - There are many groups with the same goal as beekeepers, improving pollinator habitat. If you want to make significant changes, you need partners like the Monarch Butterfly groups and Birding Groups. <a href="http://www.pheasantsforever.org/" target="_blank">http://www.pheasantsforever.org</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Greg Hanaford,</b> “Marketing, Don’t Just Sell the Product, Sell the Beekeeper” - For marketing your product, you have a unique ability to reach a specific segment of the market and they are your customer. Don’t try to be Walmart because there is no way a beekeeper can afford to undercharge the market. Try and lure the quality conscious consumer because they are willing to pay whatever price your honey costs. <a href="http://www.ozarkbees.com/" target="_blank">http://www.ozarkbees.com</a></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Updates From the Beltsville USDA-ARS Lab</b></span></div>
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<li><b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Dr. Steven Cook,</b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> “The Effects of Two Neonicitinoid Pesticides on Honey Bee Respirometry”</span></li>
<li><b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Dr. Jeff Pettis,</b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> “Factors Affecting Queen Health”</span></li>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Updates from the Tucson USDA-ARS Lab</b></span></div>
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<li><b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Dr. Vanessa Corby-Harris</b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">, “Associations Between Alpha 2.2 Bacteria and Honey Bees: Where Do They Come From and How Can They Help?”</span></li>
<li><b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Dr. William Merkle</b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">, “What Continuous Monitoring of Weight and Temperature Tells US About the Hive”</span></li>
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<b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Dr. Peter Teal, Dr. Marla Spivak, Dr. Jeff Pettis,</b><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> “Research With Practical Applications” - Everyone can find the latest bee research at: </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://beelab.umn.edu/" target="_blank">http://beelab.umn.edu</a> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://beeinformed.org/" target="_blank">http://beeinformed.org</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/Research.htm" target="_blank">http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/Research.htm</a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">What the public can do for researchers is to put pressure on congress to allocate money for Honey Bee research. Hobbiest beekeepers have the best ability to put scientific research into practical uses because they have the time to assess the hive. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Dept of Entomology, Univ of Maryland,</b> “How to Keep Colonies Alive, Lessons From the Field” - Take the Winter Loss survey at </span><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> <a href="http://beeinformed.org/" target="_blank">http://beeinformed.org</a></span></span><br />
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Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-64903109211863754122014-01-09T15:45:00.002-07:002014-01-09T15:45:34.414-07:00Honeycomb HarleyThe most remarkable thing I saw today at the American Beekeeping Federation, "Bees on the Bayou" was this Honeycomb Harley.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4JNP0utPCKsPVzMmqmYIbXyIPW7mEEe9uK5iRZTgZcAlgZhNoA-zCb5JN8YkpF0lABKTwQjSdwjrkSeMfl7Jp9wA9QdzdXTeTLcGV4O_TsKYmHooVJOp8TSqtXkL6cRKFycsxM3qEWy4/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4JNP0utPCKsPVzMmqmYIbXyIPW7mEEe9uK5iRZTgZcAlgZhNoA-zCb5JN8YkpF0lABKTwQjSdwjrkSeMfl7Jp9wA9QdzdXTeTLcGV4O_TsKYmHooVJOp8TSqtXkL6cRKFycsxM3qEWy4/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-61752040982138886662013-10-15T11:17:00.000-06:002013-10-15T11:28:14.312-06:00How to Make a Silicone Candle Mold Do you have an object laying around the house that you would like to make a bajillion clones out of in the form of candles? Let me show you how to make a silicone mold. Follow these steps.<br />
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<b>1. Is your object the right shape?</b> You can't make a mold with anything with a hole in it, like the crooked arm in this object. The reason is that you can't pull the candle out of the mold with out tearing apart the mold. Also, your object needs to have some sort of flat bottom so you don't have a rocking candle, lighting everything around it on fire! <br />
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<a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/sites/default/files/2006ah5551ceramic_figurine_eliza_vestris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" id="irc_mi" src="http://www.vam.ac.uk/users/sites/default/files/2006ah5551ceramic_figurine_eliza_vestris.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="124" /></a></div>
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<b>2. Is your object porous?</b> I chose a sugar cake to mold. The problem is that once the liquid silicone meets the sugar cake, the cake will dissolve. Spray wood or other porous surfaces with an enamel to keep the silicone from permanently sticking. I sprayed 5 layers of enamel on this sugar cake, waiting for the enamel to dry between applications.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBJhfm7zjY_5z9lrsztPrYi6WBbQmuIL7CitcXfJJU3yVLZ5sOz-Wz91Tfnf7MvlklVr8lwOQJ4wcXwGUjmvpDmjpxVdZ7fJyPXw-pXe_36bqB2o86-wfa_ahD-KcxtHylWp2cnwdV8E/s1600/IMG_0611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBJhfm7zjY_5z9lrsztPrYi6WBbQmuIL7CitcXfJJU3yVLZ5sOz-Wz91Tfnf7MvlklVr8lwOQJ4wcXwGUjmvpDmjpxVdZ7fJyPXw-pXe_36bqB2o86-wfa_ahD-KcxtHylWp2cnwdV8E/s200/IMG_0611.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdGyy2nToD4y5LTpnFuj3G4MMwdEuhDisFU6Box9dSyVI4LBO4owWz5luho9w7ZyrMR3AKQUrthaRdjuP7qr85fYuGqed2rS7oek_rDTKsZqXnhwD6kOedGmsesc9jSWjLpbtly8e_rw/s1600/IMG_0607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdGyy2nToD4y5LTpnFuj3G4MMwdEuhDisFU6Box9dSyVI4LBO4owWz5luho9w7ZyrMR3AKQUrthaRdjuP7qr85fYuGqed2rS7oek_rDTKsZqXnhwD6kOedGmsesc9jSWjLpbtly8e_rw/s200/IMG_0607.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<b>3. Pick a container to make the mold.</b> I'm using an old yogurt container. It gives about half an inch around the sugar cake.<br />
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<b>4. Glue your item to the bottom of your container. </b><br />
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<b>5. Mix and measure the silicone according to the manufacturers directions.</b> For this mold, I used AeroMarine 125 Silicone RTV Rubber, 25 Durometer Moldmaking Compound, parts A and B. The Mix ration is 1:1. Rather than eyeballing 1:1, I weighed Part A and Part B to make sure they were equal as I was pouting them into the container. Mix the mixture quickly so that you have time to pour it before the mold cures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzbvphyphenhyphenywfw9XTPP86aF1V78hUOLTF3oaNbf6EjouowfkcYNlFuj0A3bM7m0dT4SQ48grFZfPSNsvzI160nKvzrzLIVogXfDzLgKuGXYDcGENQbCEv9Rq8SNxtjsl7Pg_qVq7LIFWuWyk/s1600/IMG_0656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzbvphyphenhyphenywfw9XTPP86aF1V78hUOLTF3oaNbf6EjouowfkcYNlFuj0A3bM7m0dT4SQ48grFZfPSNsvzI160nKvzrzLIVogXfDzLgKuGXYDcGENQbCEv9Rq8SNxtjsl7Pg_qVq7LIFWuWyk/s200/IMG_0656.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kkTepQRmVf-pqKUm5zD-YZTSHasTAsGQz1u_vvoYDhFNftaoQ5Ooi6qBL5-PvuOH-JwdQu8QvQ9oHlQtysC1O-jJGpeCbXLti-vHJsM4wE8H251MjzN-ipeiafPAWhIqEx_LlhGhKyE/s1600/IMG_0657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kkTepQRmVf-pqKUm5zD-YZTSHasTAsGQz1u_vvoYDhFNftaoQ5Ooi6qBL5-PvuOH-JwdQu8QvQ9oHlQtysC1O-jJGpeCbXLti-vHJsM4wE8H251MjzN-ipeiafPAWhIqEx_LlhGhKyE/s200/IMG_0657.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>6. Pour in the silicone on top of your item. </b><br />
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<b>7. Tap out the bubbles</b> in the mold by banging the mold against a surface or putting something that vibrates like a palm sander against the bottom of the mold to dislodge bubbles. <br />
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<b>8. After the mold cures, cut it out of the container.</b> Drill a hole for the wick at the top of the mold<br />
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<b>9. Cut a slit on the side of the mold to easily pull out the candle</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg28RPSZxyvARz1O798WHJ52dwbfTw84JkmUce5t8dEVNAvEwqgpxrq5Qo8Xu8zqh74tY1wTNpex8Fsjxlaavi9wbsimzR795oqbJs76OO2pxs-nyXWj5eAblkfqKY7lQE0n8Hj7MDe_I/s1600/IMG_0665.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg28RPSZxyvARz1O798WHJ52dwbfTw84JkmUce5t8dEVNAvEwqgpxrq5Qo8Xu8zqh74tY1wTNpex8Fsjxlaavi9wbsimzR795oqbJs76OO2pxs-nyXWj5eAblkfqKY7lQE0n8Hj7MDe_I/s200/IMG_0665.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpD-wbhVNWEgSohhLRvzY0eD9pvkrHuM8M0dQRVLtIf26QEa6g-KarpJw_xKZuAMCnhawmRJuH6Xh80qiKnaGa3vYucAUzscvHu3cqn54vCpg8laGGoiFWyN7mFgcXT80u8dVdRA0e5qU/s1600/IMG_0667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpD-wbhVNWEgSohhLRvzY0eD9pvkrHuM8M0dQRVLtIf26QEa6g-KarpJw_xKZuAMCnhawmRJuH6Xh80qiKnaGa3vYucAUzscvHu3cqn54vCpg8laGGoiFWyN7mFgcXT80u8dVdRA0e5qU/s200/IMG_0667.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<b>10. Add a wick, put a rubber band around the circumference to hold in the wax, pour in hot beeswax and you have a candle. </b><br />
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-78163889917995260372013-09-09T22:07:00.000-06:002013-09-14T08:08:01.680-06:00PNM Rocks! Cinderblock trap outI've been working with PNM's Environmental Scientist, Steven S. to help trap out some bees from a PNM substation cinderblock wall within Albuquerque. Three cheers for PNM going out and finding a local beekeeper to remove live honeybees, rather than using an exterminator. This is especially admiral for a trap out, which involves many visits to the site over a 6 week period of time and someone from the company always has to be present for safety concerns.<br />
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This trap out was slick. No problems in setting it up. I placed a frame of young honeybee larvae with all the nurse bees into the top bar hive. This will be the new home for the bees that exit the original hive and have no better place to live. They will make a queen with the new larvae and create a brand new colony. It's a late season trap out and I'll be transferring bees week by week into my stronger hives so that they can survive the winter.<br />
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The only odd part about this trap out is that it is in a PNM substation. When entering the substation, we have to wear protective fire wear and are limited on entering the premises if it is raining. There is always a dull hum of machinery. Wondering if the dull hum is enticing to bee colonies?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KxgY67w3zBoVZH5sEbkfapGpIL5znkxTjhQWVxEYrGFrtaeRSY7J5leClVWcXYfZXwQhwRuAKjrAPupJRhZGVVAoCu-Ne9rOuypAN3_InVEzArZAbwl6IIfPv5FAmjX72Arg9HfpXu8/s1600/IMG_0389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KxgY67w3zBoVZH5sEbkfapGpIL5znkxTjhQWVxEYrGFrtaeRSY7J5leClVWcXYfZXwQhwRuAKjrAPupJRhZGVVAoCu-Ne9rOuypAN3_InVEzArZAbwl6IIfPv5FAmjX72Arg9HfpXu8/s320/IMG_0389.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Top Bar Trap balanced on a ladder</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncf5PDvTYTDSkgT880RbigTB0Ogo4lVxFBkvyx8trItkuP8cVJHSJjMo6JQQGcBgcrxD6JyZMt9oi1oC92I5sQVBCCvnBGSrPtVTycbZdYy-GrH76xvXFdTBb9W7B9G8AVkbG39XU6e8/s1600/IMG_0390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhncf5PDvTYTDSkgT880RbigTB0Ogo4lVxFBkvyx8trItkuP8cVJHSJjMo6JQQGcBgcrxD6JyZMt9oi1oC92I5sQVBCCvnBGSrPtVTycbZdYy-GrH76xvXFdTBb9W7B9G8AVkbG39XU6e8/s320/IMG_0390.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LWvMEjHHVSZvOy9gNzKeK4RzOEokyIeAEQJ3ZFfo_Pfd4r5GXuNNLT0VmfGYKNmh4mPescsItAOlVRa3W8yJdnxGff9BvdmgjiUHvW8P5khrYEkCHreFPjBfkhFh_6mSuvVk-4eBTCo/s1600/IMG_0392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LWvMEjHHVSZvOy9gNzKeK4RzOEokyIeAEQJ3ZFfo_Pfd4r5GXuNNLT0VmfGYKNmh4mPescsItAOlVRa3W8yJdnxGff9BvdmgjiUHvW8P5khrYEkCHreFPjBfkhFh_6mSuvVk-4eBTCo/s320/IMG_0392.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A detail of the trap. The cone has a frayed exit hole and is glued to the wall using silicone</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsuoAacxmaDgZNmqdie1-IHE72JSiBkKNtB7I25Q4c6CqHIwsY5E1kuNPdkKvBofZ6H58lYTtkNUB70lY-ZVa6e6vwe6jiBNQtV2YAMGxZzrObFPDkScXa_PViumYiuhzRTuceteI-X18/s1600/IMG_0394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsuoAacxmaDgZNmqdie1-IHE72JSiBkKNtB7I25Q4c6CqHIwsY5E1kuNPdkKvBofZ6H58lYTtkNUB70lY-ZVa6e6vwe6jiBNQtV2YAMGxZzrObFPDkScXa_PViumYiuhzRTuceteI-X18/s320/IMG_0394.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you hear the hum?</td></tr>
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-5071981934755496272013-05-05T14:29:00.002-06:002013-05-05T14:31:06.279-06:00University Swarm, aka Twin PeaksJust caught this rocking swarm by UNM, off of Lead and University, in Albuquerque. I dub this 2 foot by 6 inch long swarm, and sister swarm 1 foot by 6 inches, Twin Peaks. I must have done something good in my past to deserve 2013's easy swarm Karma.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnr0Q6KP5yUS4rI13hWin_V2JeXFG36GmsRJ-y-j8T2i3HWXEiiEvbsOzfw2mRCHLWDQ5DODZBks0ukygzjNoQX7S1e1ivlgl178ZfLjm6FbrR8q7J2whzA7A3Hz-fGe0dcblcoNO4Ys/s1600/IMG_1806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVnr0Q6KP5yUS4rI13hWin_V2JeXFG36GmsRJ-y-j8T2i3HWXEiiEvbsOzfw2mRCHLWDQ5DODZBks0ukygzjNoQX7S1e1ivlgl178ZfLjm6FbrR8q7J2whzA7A3Hz-fGe0dcblcoNO4Ys/s320/IMG_1806.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twin Peaks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjptoZbfk46E2cFwoURSvxzPjxjo7fJjMVol5GFbxFJRUL5hyCrqHDvVInNAclpbuKP8WM9AdZtwToxZIc7_dAROSkYGNfDzU4XP2Mb5mL9nr5IUBlfxjqgT68NR-CikM_uxokM5x-9cTk/s1600/IMG_1810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjptoZbfk46E2cFwoURSvxzPjxjo7fJjMVol5GFbxFJRUL5hyCrqHDvVInNAclpbuKP8WM9AdZtwToxZIc7_dAROSkYGNfDzU4XP2Mb5mL9nr5IUBlfxjqgT68NR-CikM_uxokM5x-9cTk/s320/IMG_1810.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lead and University</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_iU1DdlCtKpRybCmZVkcMqY_4tfWgT3EqGn1rH22kx70Q6FQsCJgSF0iiWk5XJehrZwdel32ZXXOy6ca4Jt9qLTNZfslNhsGDTSs8GG-SgnhVUaFgsqVW-ao-Ld-1xCQhE7wZEq9bolY/s1600/IMG_1811.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_iU1DdlCtKpRybCmZVkcMqY_4tfWgT3EqGn1rH22kx70Q6FQsCJgSF0iiWk5XJehrZwdel32ZXXOy6ca4Jt9qLTNZfslNhsGDTSs8GG-SgnhVUaFgsqVW-ao-Ld-1xCQhE7wZEq9bolY/s320/IMG_1811.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cut the branches and lowered the swarms into my box with a tupperwear filled with a paper towel soaked in sugar water</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCiNapp5pot-JRVx55ll4wNtNss2J5Z7M9xPrg9dLXaRc-mxF1Z20pNVI1Vh8qI8e4eRwhOeVOImAx0cg4OiGJ3MOKGX900bfVjyWErGYuL07EO5rQ91_uUo9l72qz35uLV7-dn9Y9NiQ/s1600/IMG_1812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCiNapp5pot-JRVx55ll4wNtNss2J5Z7M9xPrg9dLXaRc-mxF1Z20pNVI1Vh8qI8e4eRwhOeVOImAx0cg4OiGJ3MOKGX900bfVjyWErGYuL07EO5rQ91_uUo9l72qz35uLV7-dn9Y9NiQ/s320/IMG_1812.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready for the drive home, I'll go back this afternoon to pick up the foragers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4u6qLgYldoxzAp08Melke7ho_3lsLMvVgynA2ifTBJ8QzMhrroQrTQPf6__D1ozdrgBNUV-oOn5BxlIuA151mIsJuO-7QAqtTOboSHtLeMOwprmo5VtV3iRCRd2x58Vv3eE1my9i8ChU/s1600/IMG_1813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4u6qLgYldoxzAp08Melke7ho_3lsLMvVgynA2ifTBJ8QzMhrroQrTQPf6__D1ozdrgBNUV-oOn5BxlIuA151mIsJuO-7QAqtTOboSHtLeMOwprmo5VtV3iRCRd2x58Vv3eE1my9i8ChU/s320/IMG_1813.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Added a dollap of beeswax dripping with honey to give them a good start and make the hive smell like "home"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCl-n1_xsTBsNfMvx9FtBpcvq5xNSoHOGDqe3bplqSUc2OWQFdPwZTU7NkMtabodsHQDnhMlblXGel5iA5LtG7WDPjFGb0TtgykT-1O3b3yQXt-b_JRseoYM0TDHZmLNYPQjHBIC7Qb8/s1600/IMG_1817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCl-n1_xsTBsNfMvx9FtBpcvq5xNSoHOGDqe3bplqSUc2OWQFdPwZTU7NkMtabodsHQDnhMlblXGel5iA5LtG7WDPjFGb0TtgykT-1O3b3yQXt-b_JRseoYM0TDHZmLNYPQjHBIC7Qb8/s320/IMG_1817.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh Canada!</td></tr>
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-31882831943109159052013-04-30T13:06:00.001-06:002013-04-30T13:06:29.690-06:00Hiving Packages in Top Bars4 gorgeous, healthy packages purchased from the remarkable Megan Mahoney, Mahoney Apiaries, driven 30 hours from CA.<br />
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Packages cleaned and prepped enthusiastically by Phill Remick.<br />
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Vida Verde Organic farm in the heart of Los Ranchos, Albuquerque<br />
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4 Top Bar Hives prepped for packages with 6, 1 year old drawn combs of beeswax in each hive, a mixture of 1:4 sugar water in 2 quart sized mason jars flipped upside down with holes poked into the tops.<br />
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What a forgot, my darned VEIL. No worries, wrapped a piece of screen door around my head and proceeded to install packages in a swirl of bees.<br />
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Pressed the queen cages into the 3rd comb from the entrance. I like to have the 3rd comb as my "business" bar. Any fancy business (installing queens, adding queen cells, etc) that happens in my hives, happens on the 3rd bar. </div>
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Lay the package in the back of the hive so the bees can come out and find the queen. </div>
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Hives are all installed. I even had a bonus swarm move into one of my empty top bar hives in the last week so I ended up with an extra hive. Yahoo!</div>
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-47268773578242388552013-04-27T17:30:00.003-06:002013-04-27T17:47:29.499-06:00Top Bar Hives- Economically Sustainable Beekeeping in Jamaica<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessie Inspecting a Langstroth Hive</td></tr>
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I've been back Stateside for a few days after spending 2 weeks traveling through Jamaica teaching Top Bar Hive Beekeeping, Treatment Free Beekeeping, Queen Rearing and Beeswax Products through the Partners of the America's Farmer to Farmer Program.<br />
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In a nutshell, I taught 152 beekeepers on Top Bar Hives and Sustainable Beekeeping from one end of Jamaica to the other, in Kingston, Westmoreland, Barton's, St. Thomas, St. Mary and Portland.<br />
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Jamaica has banned the importation of beeswax to the country so they can't make enough beeswax to support the foundation needed for Langstroth hives. Each apiary is suggested to have 10% Top Bar hives, solely for wax production, but nobody knows how to use this style of hive yet! I was there continuing the education of previous trainers, NM's own Les Crowder and Megan Mahoney! Tom Hebert from Honduras has also participated in the program.<br />
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<b><u>Jessie's Top 9 Teaching List </u></b><br />
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<b>1. Top Bar Beekeeping is Awesome- </b>By the time I had given my 45 minute demo about how awesome Top Bar Beekeeping is, <b>people were pulling out their measuring tapes to find out dimensions </b>and make their own hives. The benefits of these hives are huge to this country:<br />
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<li>Cheap, hives can even be made out of woven bamboo, burlap coffee bags or bundled straw to cut costs even further</li>
<li>More beeswax production to make Langstroth foundation or start producing beeswax products. </li>
<li>No hidden places for Hive Beetles to make a home</li>
<li>No equipment storage </li>
<li>No extra parts, no extractors, or frames, or foundation or boxes, or queen excluders </li>
<li>Lightweight, anybody can lift a 10 pound comb</li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woven Top Bar Hive</td></tr>
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<b>2. Queen Rearing-</b> The idea of rearing queens that are resistant to disease and pathogens is rocking their world! Every queen rearing talk would lead to people telling me about their new treatment for mites. I just kept telling them, "Why put a bandaid on the problem, when you can make it so they don't get sick to begin with, through genetics."</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grafting Queens, Portland Bee Farmer's Assoc. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portland Bee Farmer's Assoc, Queen Yard</td></tr>
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<b>3. Happy Birthday!</b> There were 8 queen bees born on my birthday, April 14th at the Yerba Buena Model Top Bar Apiary. We just kept caging virgin queen after queen. Shameless plug: if you are reading this and want to be a top bar beekeeping intern at an unbelievable farm, check out my gracious hosts at <a href="http://yerbabuenafarmjamaica.com/" target="_blank">Yerba Buena Farm</a>.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catch that virgin queen!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My host, Agape Adams with a queen</td></tr>
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<b>4. Instructions on how to transfer a Langstroth to Top Bar Hive</b></div>
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<li>You can do this by making comb savers and cutting 4 fully capped brood frames from a strong and healthy Langstroth hive during a nectar flow. Put the frames and any bees remaining into the Langstroth for them to draw it out with new beeswax. </li>
<li>You add the queen to the Top Bar Hive and shake in 4-6 frames of bees</li>
<li>Then put the Top Bar hive in place of the original Langstroth so it can gain all the worker bees and move the Langstroth hive to a new location. </li>
<li>The Langstroth hive will raise a new queen with all of their hefty resources. </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel cuts a Lang Frame to fit a Top Bar comb saver</td></tr>
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<b>5. Candle making-</b> I taught Candle Making/Wax Products classes to groups that had already had a top bar hive donated and transferred from a Langstroth so that they have a way to make money with the wax they would begin harvesting. There is no local wick manufacturer so I pressed the idea of wick experimentation. Try using hemp rope, strips of wood, wicker harvested from the jungle. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessie teaching candles and mold making</td></tr>
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<b>6. Recipe Building.</b> As Jamaican's start producing more beeswax, I gave them a basic lip balm recipe and taught them how to build on it to produce different products. People pay more money for beeswax that has not been treated with miticides. Here is the gist:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Lipbalm= 1 part any oil (for moisturizing) + 1 part beeswax (for hardening)</li>
<li>Thick Lotion= oil + beeswax + thick oil, like cocoa butter (for body)</li>
<li>Mosquito Balm= oil + beeswax + lemongrass oil</li>
<li>Healing salve= oil + beeswax + healing oils like calendula, lavender, etc.</li>
<li>Petroleum Jelly= baby oil + beeswax</li>
</ul>
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<b>7. No winter.</b> Did you know there is no winter in Jamaica? I had to keep wrapping my brain about the idea of Nectar flow and Dearth instead of Winter and summer. In the height of summer, around July-August it is so hot that trees aren't producing nectar. You have to view this as our winter and build up your hives to have at least 12 combs to survive these tough months.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2HVAXHyg5xZoIhNPGpcf_42DQulUePg1QxVZglI2p2gUPcySxddA39rbx8gnh9BK5ZZKn23HIxsH4g9-nxd_cxi_xxP-nM80rYEDwNp75YLqDOl01WXLnDhNsb2C33uNRusa1-NbTgZ8/s1600/IMG_1244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2HVAXHyg5xZoIhNPGpcf_42DQulUePg1QxVZglI2p2gUPcySxddA39rbx8gnh9BK5ZZKn23HIxsH4g9-nxd_cxi_xxP-nM80rYEDwNp75YLqDOl01WXLnDhNsb2C33uNRusa1-NbTgZ8/s400/IMG_1244.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top Bar Model Apiary at Yerba Buena Farm</td></tr>
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<b>8. Top Bar Hive Management. </b>Pests, disease? No worries, try different management techniques that I use all the time with Top Bar. </div>
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<ul>
<li>Wax Moths- harvest some of your comb, the bees have too much to protect.</li>
<li>Foulbrood- if you hold your comb up to the sun and can't see through it, time to harvest it out of the hive and let the bees draw new comb. That black comb harbors disease, feces, cocoon buildup. As Agape Adams calls it, a sewer! </li>
<li>Chalkbrood- Requeen and make sure they aren't getting exposed to fungicides</li>
<li>Mites- Requeen for hygienic behavior, aka. bees clean the mites off each other</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing room only, Westmoreland Bee Assoc.</td></tr>
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<b>9. Jamaicans laugh at all my jokes.</b> No seriously, Jamaicans get New Mexico dry humor and I went to great lengths to help beekeepers enjoy learning Top Bar Hives. I love this country and would love to return!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Mary's Bee Club</td></tr>
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Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-38504365860983575842013-04-26T10:19:00.001-06:002013-04-26T10:19:43.815-06:00Beeyard DateMy hubby and I getting cuddly in the beeyard at <a href="http://yerbabuenafarmjamaica.com/" target="_blank">Yerba Buena Farm, Jamaica</a> surrounded by sugar cane, banana trees and of course... bees.<br />
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Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-69048387013003749212013-04-25T00:32:00.003-06:002013-04-25T00:33:29.059-06:00Swarm GiftHad a delightful swarm gift experience today. Clay, the bird man at the local <a href="http://www.cabq.gov/culturalservices/biopark/zoo" target="_blank">Albuquerque Zoo</a> gave me a call saying that the zoo had a melon shaped swarm, he had caught it in a couple of boxes and wanted someone to pick it up. Took me about 15 minutes to throw my girls in the car and pick up some free bees! As always, I'm dumbstruck by random acts of kindness and generosity.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting at the zoo for free bees</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The swarm, packed up in tidy packages</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The top bar hive is prepped with 1:4 sugar water</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gave them a frame of brood to entice the swarm to stay</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The swarm after I shook them into the hive</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fanning the nazanoff scent, saying "this is a great place to live, come find us"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japan is back in business with a new hive</td></tr>
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Clay and I chatted bees and he told me his "hero" story of catching the swarm and his coworkers being amazed at his daring! </div>
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Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-88085321301713400262013-04-25T00:19:00.001-06:002013-04-25T00:20:13.804-06:00Thelytoky aka Thrilling Bee BehaviorJust returned from my wild and wonderful Jamaica adventure where I was teaching top bar beekeeping. Until I get my thoughts straight on that one, let me report back on what happened in the apiary while I was gone.<br />
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This last winter, <b>I lost 16 out of 17 beehives</b>. That was a staggering amount and I blame good old fashioned winter loss.<br />
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<b>Background</b><br />
Desperate and about to leave town for 2 weeks, I ended up being able to buy 4 packages of bees and install them within 24 hours of leaving town. I wasn't able to wait to make sure that the queens were released from their queen cages successfully in the suggested 2-3 days, so I direct released the queens when I installed the packages into their hives. I placed the caged queens in with the packages into the top bar hives. Waited for about 30 minutes to make sure no bees were trying to attack through the cages and just let the queens troop right into the hives to start laying.<br />
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I checked the hives 2 days ago and found some thrilling bee behavior.<br />
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<b>Thelytoky</b><br />
This hive had lost their queen somewhere in the mix and had laying workers. Every single cell was full of eggs. I first heard about thelytoky last summer from Michael Bush. This is where in rare circumstances, haploid worker bees can lay diploid worker bees or even a queen bee. If you know anything about basic bee biology, this is like a bee miracle. The<br />
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It appeared as if my hive that I hadn't checked on in 2 weeks was exhibiting signs of thelytoky. The bees had formed queen cell cups that were full of eggs by laying workers. The bees were attempting to rear a queen using haploid, laying worker eggs.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laying Workers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laid queen cells</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen cells full of laid worker eggs</td></tr>
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In hindsight, I should have let the bees do their thing and find out what kind of queen they were able to produce. Instead, I had a virgin queen on hand that I introduced to the hive to try and make this hive queenright.<br />
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<b>Want to learn more about the biology of thelytoky?</b><br />
<a href="http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/thelytoky.html" target="_blank">http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/thelytoky.html</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelytoky" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelytoky</a><br />
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-37759180384377056112013-04-13T17:15:00.001-06:002013-04-13T17:15:26.069-06:00Candlemaking in JamaicaWhat do you do when you don't have an oven to heat beeswax to make candles for a candle making demonstration in Jamaica? You light a fire using coconut husk and charcoal (adorable and charismatic kid optional)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_daex2eZsPBy3OVv9UAWys_vPtK_Lli2WjT_Uf9xR2vkPUUYKt_Pu46Wpek9GoON77Beg9AO1TzdDKa6e3Ruguuj4Ntu9mJXlLJpLlu0z7DPlhYGra6coTgUfFVremeqlx65qLmcEyg/s1600/IMG_1186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_daex2eZsPBy3OVv9UAWys_vPtK_Lli2WjT_Uf9xR2vkPUUYKt_Pu46Wpek9GoON77Beg9AO1TzdDKa6e3Ruguuj4Ntu9mJXlLJpLlu0z7DPlhYGra6coTgUfFVremeqlx65qLmcEyg/s400/IMG_1186.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Here is the fantastic group of beekeepers I taught a candle making class to the St. Thomas Bee Farmers Association now that they will be swimming in beeswax using top bar hives.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVEsQf_4wrZod9qbYygZC6sTrSVcpU6b7frxwF0EFYc0zgmPmtYtKaouu_tNyjyMJiwOjn8CzMBh10oBpdcLjUeO9ESN5fXu2FuSmvmBvPwpIWFRevnpNNe_LjlWRQD91TiLK2i2SyQA/s1600/candle+kids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVEsQf_4wrZod9qbYygZC6sTrSVcpU6b7frxwF0EFYc0zgmPmtYtKaouu_tNyjyMJiwOjn8CzMBh10oBpdcLjUeO9ESN5fXu2FuSmvmBvPwpIWFRevnpNNe_LjlWRQD91TiLK2i2SyQA/s320/candle+kids.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-55781235690888065712013-04-13T17:04:00.004-06:002013-04-13T17:22:15.692-06:00Jamaica BeekSo, I have been in Strawberry Fields, Jamaica at the <a href="http://yerbabuenafarmjamaica.com/" target="_blank">Yerba Buena Farm </a>for 4 full days and have a whirlwind teaching experience across the country through the <a href="http://www.partners.net/partners/Overview2.asp#.UWngf45H020" target="_blank">Farmer to Farmer Program</a>.<br />
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I'm here teaching top bar beekeeping techniques in a country desperate for a change in hive style since beeswax has been banned for importation. No cheap beeswax means the already expensive langstroth hive is even more expensive to maintain. They are looking to top bar to increase their beeswax production. In fact, if you have a beeyard, it is recommended that you have 10% top bar hives to help make the foundation.<br />
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I can't begin to tell you how exciting it is to begin an "Intro to Top Bar/ Treatment Free" class with an audience of dubious beekeepers, and leave with those same beekeepers pulling out measuring tapes to start making top bar hives when they get home.<br />
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Here are a few pics of transferring a langstroth hive into a top bar body.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDHFwhyW4Tvt5xBHGAUwlc7efnujmLurjPsKxCldwnvq1EzAJIDC69cTzeG4oM3ANEQVpSKPAAaLKOe-nzInU9MR_pTIHx22BU3e950UOUW34sdeoHdxWJlvRWfO_g_yYKXMxYwKg0SA/s1600/IMG_1847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDHFwhyW4Tvt5xBHGAUwlc7efnujmLurjPsKxCldwnvq1EzAJIDC69cTzeG4oM3ANEQVpSKPAAaLKOe-nzInU9MR_pTIHx22BU3e950UOUW34sdeoHdxWJlvRWfO_g_yYKXMxYwKg0SA/s320/IMG_1847.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kwao cutting a langstroth frame and adding it to a "comb saver" to transfer a Lang hive to Top Bar</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The New Lang in the St. Barton Bee Association Bee yard in Jamaica</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beekeeping in paradise</td></tr>
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Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-74647629623589824732012-10-14T21:57:00.000-06:002012-10-14T22:00:38.097-06:00Crafting a Top Bar Observation Hive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZC2YnWr8PS5EdZQVMcP2UX244eqSC5s3sDVK8_Rxks48tDiZVan_ZSwNG46Tw5ryfz5yYG1ZZuQ6DWXNvwothVgyXUVjp4VuSuGalADWdJWfQvDlx39JA7vEL100Msp1n7pMQzgGWNjE/s1600/photo-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZC2YnWr8PS5EdZQVMcP2UX244eqSC5s3sDVK8_Rxks48tDiZVan_ZSwNG46Tw5ryfz5yYG1ZZuQ6DWXNvwothVgyXUVjp4VuSuGalADWdJWfQvDlx39JA7vEL100Msp1n7pMQzgGWNjE/s320/photo-15.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I stayed up until midnight a couple of nights ago crafting a Top Bar Observation hive. Tricky, because there are 2 types of top bar hives here in NM and I wanted the hive to have the ability to fit a single <a href="http://api.ning.com/files/xYXdXlUiY86DMVNVsNbVCagz1Ymhb9kD-iCz44xfdRlaBPRzFJpWlzvsoULtPCXwAy9ka6BWrV2-yoG6svviJb7EexIWW7kz/LesHiveNMBKA.pdf" target="_blank">Les Crowder style top bar</a> or a <a href="http://api.ning.com/files/liR6K4cRJpFmFayYTe7BSW6R3Fx8xm1y7ge9GB1T7RwE3ZhSuq8MmR3R3zH1irjIhR65bicbVb*vBC-REfjpuwXKUrnuJ8Oc/TopBar_BeeHive_Plans.pdf" target="_blank">TJ Carr style top bar</a>. The width of the bars are similar, but the length varies by 1/2". Also, TJ hive's beeswax comb hangs 2 inches lower than Les's so I made the hive deeper than necessary.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVa07MRgQoBAs8ADvDx2XWzU2vQw77fY5C9zQYxZilnQ8rjCAdcIC62XtQuVib2UHBcdpjCrShg9XDgd2YhRMdNzb5FCcz1QElLlEHeb9XpDJHvVmXGSgskStUu-T62sXGrlJt0z-evcQ/s1600/photo-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVa07MRgQoBAs8ADvDx2XWzU2vQw77fY5C9zQYxZilnQ8rjCAdcIC62XtQuVib2UHBcdpjCrShg9XDgd2YhRMdNzb5FCcz1QElLlEHeb9XpDJHvVmXGSgskStUu-T62sXGrlJt0z-evcQ/s320/photo-14.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The hive worked perfectly for the Heritage Farm Festival at the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens. There is no easier way to draw a crowd and start answering questions about bees without something for people to see, smell and hear. </div>
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Some techniques I decided to implement were: </div>
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1. Using plexiglass instead of glass. Anything made out of glass that goes out into the field with me gets shattered almost instantly. </div>
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2. Use lots of air holes to prevent the glass from steaming up with with the moisture and heat produced by a gaggle of bees. </div>
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3. Make a demonstration hive that holds a single frame. The longest I tend to keep bees in the hive is a day and keeping the hive to a frame cuts down on the weight for transporting. Good thing because I had to haul this hive at least an 1/8 of a mile to my stand at the Botanical Gardens. </div>
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4. Reminder- it's only a prototype. You can't create perfection the first time! Every thing crafted needs to be lived with. </div>
<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-16192190706184257552012-09-25T20:31:00.001-06:002012-09-25T20:31:55.738-06:00Feeding Top Bar Beehives HoneyAbout a month ago I fed one of my weak Top Bar bee hives by unceremoniously dumping fresh honeycomb in the back of the beehive that I pulled out of one of my strong beehives. The bees don't just leave the honey in the back of the hive, they move it into honeycomb within the colony, close to the brood. Their stores are placed in a specific pattern to get through the winter.<div>
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In cleaning out the honey from the feeding, this is what they created. Some might call it cross combing. My friend Nina calls it free form building. I call it, "still surprised by bees everyday."<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhud7cGo4frM4e_He80Ion3z-OFiVO0VujTQjZrmlXJUw1T0uIyOAPBb6n9GqqFBNdXT_26RYgdvPW8mMTQyGOnN51r4JIamftAIFHqaqhh3HmD1lFAIB1ur87sXiRbHtJFjvXD5d2veag/s1600/IMG_1112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhud7cGo4frM4e_He80Ion3z-OFiVO0VujTQjZrmlXJUw1T0uIyOAPBb6n9GqqFBNdXT_26RYgdvPW8mMTQyGOnN51r4JIamftAIFHqaqhh3HmD1lFAIB1ur87sXiRbHtJFjvXD5d2veag/s400/IMG_1112.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photos by Nina Dubois</td></tr>
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Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-35188458472685892362012-09-24T21:00:00.002-06:002012-09-24T21:11:50.014-06:00State Fair Honey Entries- Blue Ribbon Win!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWQ_RbqemoqsPs6TjROtkaKBJ8s6lq7Ey6rPOKSLUPLE2F6KI8G7ywJRqqoEkE1D2RKV9nQZ_ZwiSR1QXxUsIHj1ylsQ3Pd6GbXiXVgI_RkElBZPXL1N5P0X4k7XB0fryWS48F-y3HJ4/s1600/GetAttachment.aspx.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWQ_RbqemoqsPs6TjROtkaKBJ8s6lq7Ey6rPOKSLUPLE2F6KI8G7ywJRqqoEkE1D2RKV9nQZ_ZwiSR1QXxUsIHj1ylsQ3Pd6GbXiXVgI_RkElBZPXL1N5P0X4k7XB0fryWS48F-y3HJ4/s1600/GetAttachment.aspx.jpeg" /></a>It took 3 years of entries and I finally ribboned at the NM State Fair for honey. Yahoo! I even ribboned in a few other areas as well.<br />
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It wasn't just dumb luck on this one. I put some thought and attention to detail in my entries this year. That's a first for me. I'm more of a "big picture" kind of gal.<br />
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Here is where you can find the entry specifics for the <a href="http://www.exponm.com/pdf/agriculture/honey.pdf" target="_blank">2012 NM State Fair</a><br />
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<b>Photography-</b> My trick to photography is that every time I get anywhere near a beehive, I take like 100,000 photos with my sticky from honey, point and shoot camera. Out of the Gillions of images I take a year, I get a handful of really good ones. For example:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awesome Photo!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What the Rest of the Photos Look Like</td></tr>
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<b>Candle Entry-</b> You can not go wrong with silicone molds! They are intricately detailed, hardly need any release agent, and keep the wax a consistent temperature when cooling, which prevents cracking. I get most of mine from <a href="http://www.penguinlovestore.com/servlet/StoreFront" target="_blank">Penguin Love</a>. Odd name, since they don't actually sell any penguin molds that I can find.<br />
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<b>Honey Entry- </b>This is the 3rd year I have entered honey and the first time I have ever placed. The secret to this honey was it's amazing taste. I harvested this honey in town, close to the Rio Grande river and it was unlike anything I have ever tasted. It crystalized in less than a month and tastes like a spicy kick in the pants! Crystallization is due to the molecular composition of the honey. The more glucose found in a particular honey, the faster it crystallizes. For an in depth chemical based read on honey, <a href="http://www.honey.com/white/pdf/white106-honey-AFR24.pdf#search='crystallization'" target="_blank">"Honey," by Jonathon White.</a> </div>
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<b>Chunk Comb Honey- </b>I followed this youtube tutorial by the Lazy Beekeeper: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDM5EhRbTQI" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDM5EhRbTQI</a>. I heated a pot of water and used a heated sharp knife to make clean cuts in brand new comb that had never stored brood (babies). Each time a bee climbs out of it's cocoon, the cocoon is left behind and can be compared to jagged paper, which and tears when cut. </div>
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Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-11112226805253237912012-09-20T21:20:00.000-06:002012-09-24T21:13:03.723-06:00Bees + Sound Art= Incredible3 nights ago I moved 2 of my beehives from the lovely South Valley into the heart of Downtown Albuquerque to the Alvarado Farm. They will be part of an amazing sound/art installation by Nina Dubois.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alvarado Farm. My hives are in and enclosure in the right top corner</td></tr>
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Nina has been interviewing local beekeepers as they work in the beehives and recording the sounds of buzzing and the beekeepers philosophies. Her recordings will be pumped into a hexagonal dome made out of recycled pallets as part of the ISEA 2012 Machine Wilderness Conference. I'm really excited to be part of her endeavor.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nighttime Beehive Move</td></tr>
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2 days ago, she installed 2 different microphones into the brood chamber of one of the hives. One of the microphones records vibration and it sounds like a trancelike hum. The other microphone records sound and it is like a bee concert! The installation is part of the ISEA Conference here in Albuquerque and should be up for 3 months. Hope you come down to look at the hives and listen to their sounds.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mics</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFia8jE0tRs2LfKS4cjy042znELIQpU-k0bm11Yj4zfYwR-vclNBNO2o77Z84TSKf01_E70QblmRfxgiWwWEeYXs3qwSYffTqBz7WpbF9Ql8VWWjNhe9CK7-gcVv7AnDTx9hxavOpQMk/s1600/IMG_4734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFia8jE0tRs2LfKS4cjy042znELIQpU-k0bm11Yj4zfYwR-vclNBNO2o77Z84TSKf01_E70QblmRfxgiWwWEeYXs3qwSYffTqBz7WpbF9Ql8VWWjNhe9CK7-gcVv7AnDTx9hxavOpQMk/s320/IMG_4734.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Beehive Shack</td></tr>
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-37738567153938806042012-07-25T09:24:00.002-06:002012-09-24T21:13:51.597-06:00Massive Beehive Removal from the Neighborhood Tree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I was just enjoying a Tuesday afternoon when I get a call from the tree trimmer Peter who says he has just cut a hollowed out limb from 20 feet up and that there are a mess of bees flying around. I find out that the tree is the one I walk by everyday with my girls to admire the feral hive, so I feel a special attachment to these ladies. </div>
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Here is the hollowed out limb that took a 20 foot tumble as Peter was trimming out the hollowed out sections of a cottonwood. It's laying in the middle of the road with a riot of bees zooming around, trying to figure out where the heck they are!<br />
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They used to live way up there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZaGJL24WZJlc2P_HMlaIaKDDUAonnw9Lez6DLzPDSvGeh-ET_CJ2tJzd1LK38ZDR5Gcj3yb7FfnyuQm-eYL1I-DvudaLy5obNNxbAdHpaN6n-lLGYNbiHhQGFvBMr_HtQRHxdeEGXAn0/s1600/IMG_4610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZaGJL24WZJlc2P_HMlaIaKDDUAonnw9Lez6DLzPDSvGeh-ET_CJ2tJzd1LK38ZDR5Gcj3yb7FfnyuQm-eYL1I-DvudaLy5obNNxbAdHpaN6n-lLGYNbiHhQGFvBMr_HtQRHxdeEGXAn0/s320/IMG_4610.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I pull out my bee vacuum and an empty mini top bar hive.<br />
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Peter the amazing tree dude, doesn't even blink an eye. He shrugs on my extra bee suit and starts to cut the large branch with a chainsaw into sections that I can get my hive tool into and start pulling out the brood (babies) and honey.<br />
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Peter then lends a hand by vacuuming out the bees from the hollowed out branch while I start to pull out the comb and stack it in the back of the top bar hive. I'm trying to make the hive as enticing as possible for the bees. We are looking for the queen at the same time. 1 bee out of 60,000. Once we get her, we can cage her and put her into the new hive. Where the queen goes, the rest of the bees go.<br />
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The inside of the branches are completely coated in propolis and beeswax. After the bees are cleaned out of each section of tree, we bag the limbs so we can get rid of delicious smells of home that will entice the bees away from the hive I am trying to move the bees into.<br />
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Bagged Limb. </div>
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Yeah, Peter rocks. If you need someone to trim trees in the Santa Fe area, give this guy a call!!!! 505-310-2050. He is part monkey with his incredible climbing abilities and has a heart of gold.<br />
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Peter then brings down the rest of the branch because half the hive was still in the tree. We still haven't found the queen and didn't want to leave a totally exposed beehive in the tree. He used a hand saw to bring the rest of the branch down and then cut it into workable pieces on the ground with the chainsaw.<br />
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I ran out of room in the mini hive, so started transferring everything to a large sized hive.<br />
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This limb also held a colony of carpenter ants that were scurrying around, trying to move their babies.<br />
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Oi, the queen is in this last piece of branch!!!! We delicately cut the branch (with a chainsaw) to try and get to the queen. I have her in my hands and then... she flies away! I try and track her flight, but she is one of 1000's of bees swirling in the middle of the street.<br />
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Se la vie. I dump the vacuum into the beehive and hope that the enticing smell of all the honeycomb and brood (babies) will keep the bees there, even though the queen isn't in the hive. Peter has cut the branch to way beyond the hive, so even without the queen, I'm hoping that the bees will move into the hive because there is nothing left of their old home.<br />
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I set up a "safety zone" with a couple of sawhorses and some orange tape to keep people from getting too close. I have to wait until night falls to move the hive, otherwise I miss all the foragers that are still out in the field and gobs of bees that are disoriented and trying to find home.<br />
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Night falls and the bees have moved into the hive! I'm hoping that the queen found the hive after she flew off. In order to move the hive to the South Valley, I tape a wire mesh all over the top of the hive. There are huge clumps of bees hanging out on the roof. I trap them under the mesh so that they don't crawl all over my body and the pickup truck during the big move.<br />
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Cutout complete. Without Peter, this would have taken me countless hours and tree cutting skills I can't even begin to fathom. I would still be looking up at that tree limb, 20 feet up, scratching my head.Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-11775773425158915992012-07-24T08:06:00.004-06:002012-09-24T21:14:42.934-06:00The Most Ridiculously Easy way to Clean BeeswaxI've been trolling the internet for a new wax harvesting system and ended up on <a href="http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/2007/06/video-on-how-to-use-simple-solar-wax.html">Linda's Bees</a>. The site introduced me to this wax processing system that I quickly became addicted to! Check out how ridiculously easy it is to process small batches of clean wax:<br />
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A cooler with a flat top lined with aluminum foil to catch any drippings.<br />
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A plastic tupperwear with one inch of water, a papertowel rubberbanded to the bowl. On top, set a handful of comb cleaned of honey.<br />
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Put the tupperwear into the cooler.<br />
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Add a sheet of glass to the top to create a solar oven. Here in our 90 degree New Mexico weather, the beeswax will melt away from the coccons and waste in the beeswax comb and drip slowly through the paper towel within a few hours.<br />
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All that is left on the top of the paper towel is the cocoons and waste, or the slumgum. (My new favorite word= slumgum)</div>
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Peel off the paper towel top for the big reveal... a clean layer of wax floating on water.<br />
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The side view of the container showing water on the bottom and hardened beeswax on top.<br />
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Beautiful wax!!!<br />
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The beeswax filled paper towel gets put into my fuel bucket for my hive smoker since it is a fantastic fire starter now. The slumgum, or bee waste product gets composted.Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-48269671683966887572012-07-22T20:52:00.001-06:002012-09-24T21:15:18.660-06:00Traps R UsPhew, just walked away from another successful trapout! This one was a classic trap... only about 15 feet up, so I had some quality time on a ladder over the last 3 months. You know, me and the bees, just 15 feet up in the air. I do wish there was a way to get the queen out of the wall in a trap because these bees were incredibly docile. I did provide the trap with babies to make a new queen from my Sally Sweets and I am just pleased as punch with the resulting hive.<br />
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When I started the trap, the bees had only been in the wall for a few weeks. I initially thought that they were in the eave and came prepared to do a cutout. Thank goodness I started by making an inspection hole with a 3 inch hole saw rather than aggressively cutting first and discovering the bees weren't where I originally thought.<br />
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I balanced the trap hive on a handy dandy ladder step. There wasn't a good place to tie the hive to on the roof. Usually I don't like to hang traps from ladders because they are too enticing for passerby. This house was in the farthest reaches of Rio Rancho in a brand new neighborhood without much foot traffic, so I chose to set the trap on a ladder.<br />
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This is the night that we pulled the trap and moved it downtown to our backyard. It was raining cats and dogs and maybe a few bees and we were getting soaked from head to toe! We had to vacuum up a football sized clump of bees that never found the trap that I provided them to move into. You can see them in the picture and the very top of the overhang. The bees decided to cling together in a very depressing way and wait for fate to take them... or for a vacuum to suck them up! My bee vac is a very lightweight tupperwear. It's great for jobs like this where a heavy apparatus is dangerous and too hefty to maneuver on a latter without getting thrown off balance.<br />
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The final touch was stuffing metal mesh screen into all the holes and then giving a nice clean bead of clear caulking. This prevents bees in the future from finding the delicious smells of beeswax and honey coming from the evicted bee's home and moving in.<br />
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I covered the 3 inch pilot hole with a round vent sold in any hardware store.<br />
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A successful trap and a lovely hive for the backyard.<br />
<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-78298541521810824842012-07-12T11:44:00.003-06:002012-09-24T21:16:01.976-06:00Michael Bush Visits New MexicoHere it is, my top 9 list of things that I learned from Michael Bush last weekend in New Mexico lecture. He covered Genetics, Raising Queens and Lazy Beekeeping!<br />
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<b>10. Genetics. </b>The success of a queen might not have anything to do with the queens genetics. It could be that the hive is the last one on the row and bee drift might be be why the hive is so successful. Hive Drift means the hives on the ends of a row may be stronger due to bees accidentally entering the wrong hive.<br />
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<b>9. 8 year old queens?</b> It's best to breed queens from a hive that has survived a winter and a nectar flow. The queen breeder Jay Smith had breeder queens that were 6-7 years old and one queen that lived to be 8 years old!<br />
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<b>8. Bees have a gambling problem.</b> The hive has to raise foragers ahead of a flow. The ones that gamble big (raise a ton of brood) win big if there is a heavy nectar flow and lose big if there is no flow and they have too many mouths to feed.<br />
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<b>7. How long to make a queen?</b> The books all say queens emerge 16 days after the egg is laid. In fact it could be 14-15 days for a queen to hatch in hot weather or up to 18 days in cold weather.<br />
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<b>6. Lazy Beekeeping Rules of Thumb.</b> If you don't know what to do, don't do anything. Stop painting your equipment. Stop fighting your bees.<br />
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<b>5. Winter Feeding.</b> If you absolutely have to feed your bees because they will most likely starve otherwise, don't feed sugar syrup, feed sugar. Honey is best, but sugar is the easiest to feed. On a Lang, put down a sheet of newspaper, then pour on a few pounds of sugar and spritz with water to make more appealing. Bees won't touch sugar water in the winter if the feed is below 50 degrees.<br />
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<b>4. Moving hives 2 feet or 2 miles? </b>The saying always goes don't move a hive more than 2 feet or less than 2 miles at a time. Michael Bush says break the rule, move the hive where you want it only if there is a really good reason to do so and put a branch in front of the entrance. The bees will still fly to the old location because they go into auto pilot, but then will think, "Wait, remember that really weird branch thing... oh yeah, the hive moved!" Some bees aren't the sharpest tool in the toolbox and will never find the hive.<br />
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<b>3. The most important thing to know as a new beekeeper is.... </b>figure out what the bees need, then help them. For instance, if you have wax moths, think about why you have them. Is it because the bees have to much comb to guard and not enough bees? Move some of the comb out of the hive.<br />
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<b>2. Thelytoky.</b> In very rare circumstance, laying workers can make a viable queen bee out of unfertilized eggs. I have always heard that when you have laying workers, you are scr#wed, but in some rare cases, the hive can do something magical and make a new queen!<br />
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<b>1. Michael Bush can sing really well.</b> <a href="http://youtu.be/j6l2l5gDCBw">http://youtu.be/j6l2l5gDCBw</a>Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-85817308844657182402012-07-05T22:07:00.003-06:002012-09-24T21:16:57.126-06:00Hive Check Itch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I haven't been in the beehives since June 21st because of a trip to the Adirondacks (lucky me) and I'm starting to get the "bee hive itch." It's that tingling sensation that maybe some sort of catastrophic occurrence has happened and I'm too late to do anything about it. I usually like to check my hives every 12-14 days because a new queen can be made in 15.5 days. The first chance I will have will be next Monday... 18 days between hive checks. Ack! I'm going to be positively frothing at the mouth come next Monday.<br />
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Here comes the good news. The reason I can't get into the hives is because the New Mexico Beekeepers Association is bringing in the Natural Beekeeper and self proclaimed Lazy Beekeeper himself... Michael Bush. You can read more about him at: <a href="http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm">http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm</a>. For more info on the all day lecture, go to: <a href="http://www.nmbeekeepers.org/events/michael-bush-practical-beekeeper-beekeeping-naturally">http://www.nmbeekeepers.org/events/michael-bush-practical-beekeeper-beekeeping-naturally</a><br />
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I'll be working my tush off this weekend and sucking up knowledge like a sponge.<br />
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See you there, Jessie<br />
<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-32779113480906754002012-06-12T08:32:00.001-06:002012-09-24T21:18:14.130-06:00Hive Pulley System<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good Morning</td></tr>
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My fireman husband and I had a successful hive move yesterday morning. I mention the fireman part because we had to use some of his extensive training in figuring out how to get a 150 pound beehive off the roof of a 2 story apartment building. Kind of like rescuing a person from a burning building!<br />
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Anyway, I was very nervous about this move and envisioned one of us pitching off the side of the building or a crumpled up beehive at the base of stairwell. It didn't happen that way at all.<br />
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What did happen, was a very successful hive move using 2 sticks, a carabiner, a long length of rope in a stuff sack and oodles and oodles of ratchet straps.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screened entrance</td></tr>
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The night before the move, I cautiously climbed up the side of the apartment building late at night to seal up all the entrances using duct tape and screen. I used screen on the entrance so the bees don't suffocate overnight. By the way, the worst thing about moving hives is the late night shenanigans. I'm surprised I didn't end up with a cop wondering what the heck I was doing, veiled and on the roof of a apt building at 10 at night.<br />
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We came back the next morning and made a sling for the hive using oodles and oodles of ratchet straps. The problem with the style of hive I use is that the top bars have potential to slip back and forth during moves to let bees escape so we could only attach straps lengthwise.<br />
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We attached a rope to the hive and strung it back around a metal pipe sticking out of the top of the building as a safety and to help ease the weight.<br />
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We then made a pulley by clamping a long board between the parapets of the building and resting a board over this so the hive wouldn't drag down the side of the building, but would be free floating. My husband sat on the back end of the extended arm and worked the rope, while I send a prayer to the bee gods and pushed the hive over the edge of the building.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We pushed the hive underneath the clamped board</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't Fall!</td></tr>
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Anyway, surprisingly, I don't have pictures of the hive in the air, because we were busy keeping the hive from scraping, falling, twisting, etc! It was a successful move and I heart my husband's sweet fireman skills! The hive is now at Moore Family Farms in the South Valley and surrounded by alfalfa fields. Much better than stinky apartment roof living.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sugar water at the farm until they find the nectar sources</td></tr>
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-1018267016895487402012-06-05T22:02:00.001-06:002012-09-24T21:18:59.388-06:00Honey PressCheck out this amazing piece of machinery. Originally a grape press for wine, but a present from my sweetie for squishing top bar honeycomb. So easy, even a 5 year old can operate it!<br />
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Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-76697278959344131382012-05-15T21:19:00.004-06:002012-09-24T21:20:12.947-06:00Whoops, magically made a top bar out of my langstrothAnd now for my next trick: I went to check my first Langstroth hive ever that started out as a swarm capture.... only to find that I had magically turned a Langstroth Hive into a Top Bar Hive. Whoops. Here is the sweet little swarm that I caught from the back of the store "Trucks R Us".<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANBUKd0Zx6FCUaONIoqX3wBINbwJvXkfjiEw_J9Gfn5fm-cv4It8JK_zHEg-nKQzddygZJmSf81ySjb6HqWX7148p1gPTqoQcYmfwQb-mf4-stWI8plC_e-tfrmyb_VOPcfrcVbNwRB0/s1600/IMG_4313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANBUKd0Zx6FCUaONIoqX3wBINbwJvXkfjiEw_J9Gfn5fm-cv4It8JK_zHEg-nKQzddygZJmSf81ySjb6HqWX7148p1gPTqoQcYmfwQb-mf4-stWI8plC_e-tfrmyb_VOPcfrcVbNwRB0/s320/IMG_4313.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trucks R Us Swarm Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcQVGpNJu5aJjLE8m99g06mvsz5HSRdXKSL5iAsQTYsYkBzUZrievwsvqIMQxaGC4oHhLzzR3sE8BM9zgTrbsGqL_Pk1f1U8RdrtVP2kE1iTOTX8_lXpBD2VJLrAIQNuuRmuGYe3VSec/s1600/IMG_4314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFcQVGpNJu5aJjLE8m99g06mvsz5HSRdXKSL5iAsQTYsYkBzUZrievwsvqIMQxaGC4oHhLzzR3sE8BM9zgTrbsGqL_Pk1f1U8RdrtVP2kE1iTOTX8_lXpBD2VJLrAIQNuuRmuGYe3VSec/s320/IMG_4314.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trucks R Us Swarm After</td></tr>
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Here is my sweet little swarm magically turned into a top bar hive, only without the removable frames.<br />
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Oi, I had to do an extraction on my own darned hive. Turns out, I put frames in the lower brood box, but didn't think to put frames in the upper brood box where I decided to hang my black inner feeder. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking either!<br />
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Problem solved. I had some wired frames hanging around and my good friend Becky Tomato helped me rubber band the comb to the frames. It's hard to see in the picture, but there are 3 wires running across the frames.The trick to attaching comb to frames is that there is an up and a down to comb. The comb is tipped slightly upwards so that honey doesn't run out of the hexagons.<br />
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Meanwhile, my high school chum was cheering us on and her lovely husband was providing shade with a large piece of corrugated metal. It's top notch checking bees with other people!Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7047240160997121258.post-49866735537768361222012-05-12T22:28:00.000-06:002012-09-24T21:20:40.356-06:00Preschoolers Draw BeesThe best part of bringing a demonstration hive to my kid's preschool is hands down the adorable thank you cards. Pictures of bees drawn by 4 and 5 year olds:<br />
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<br />Jessie Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469011065556001322noreply@blogger.com0