Queen rearing is something that all beekeepers should do as part of summer management. The benefits of raising our own queens far outweigh the effort we put into it. Here is how to do it if you want to give it a go!
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Queen Rearing for Beginners – Breeding Quality Queens
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How to Get Your Bees to Draw Comb
Drawn comb is gold dust to beekeepers. Frustratingly, it is sometimes as difficult to obtain as it is valuable. In this extensive article, originally published in the Irish Beekeeper’s Magazine, An Beachaire, we will look at comb and discuss how best to get the bees to build it.
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Feeding Bees – Winter & Spring
Late winter and early spring is the time of year when honeybees are most at risk of starvation. It is therefore of utmost importance that beekeepers are vigilant and check their colonies for stores and feed if necessary. Read on to learn how to give emergency feed to bees in winter and spring.
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Wax Moth Treatment
The greatest threats when storing drawn comb for longer periods of time are mice and rats, mould, and wax moth. In this article I will guide you through how to perform effective wax moth treatment before putting boxes of drawn comb in storage for winter.
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Cleaning Beehive Frames and Equipment
Clean frames and comb are nicer to use than old, dirty ones. But that is not the reason we should endeavour to keep our frames clean and the comb fresh. Both frames and comb, as well as other hive equipment, can harbour a wide range of organisms known to negatively impact honeybees.
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Bee Pollen – Health Benefits & How to Harvest
There is a growing market for pollen products for human consumption as a health food and performance booster. In this article we explore the health benefits of pollen and how to harvest, process and store bee pollen.
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Honey Refractometer – All You Need to Know
There are many honey refractometers available on the market, most are portable and easy to use. There are both analogue and digital instruments available, ranging in price from around twenty Euros to several hundred and even thousands for laboratory style pieces.
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What is Bee Bread – Health Benefits and How to Harvest
In the hidden world of beehives, an extraordinary process occurs, converting pollen into a nutritional marvel known as bee bread. This transformation isn’t just a survival strategy; it’s a fermentation masterpiece that sparks curiosity and offers potential health rewards for humans.
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How to use a Testframe
Many beekeepers jump the gun when they suspect that a colony is queenless and introduce a new queen without verifying that they are in fact queenless and in need of a new royal. Introducing a new queen into a colony that is queenright will lead to the killing of the newly introduced queen. In this practical blog I will discuss how to correctly use a testframe to check if a hive is queenless or not.
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