2011 Michigan Beekeepers Conf.

2011 Michigan Beekeepers Conf.

Day 1 Last week Mieke and I made our annual trek to Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI to attend the Michigan Beekeeper Association’s Spring Conference. Once again we had an enjoyable time at the conference, meeting and chatting with fellow...
The Survivors!

The Survivors!

We recently experienced that February thaw we were waiting for here in Michigan.  I couldn’t wait to get over to our apiary to see how my girls fared over the cold winter months.  We were quite happy to discover that at the moment all of our colonies that went...

Dennis vanEngelsdorp’s plea for bees

There are a lot of very good TED talk videos available online, and a few not so good ones as well. Whether you are interested in honeybees or not, this is a TED talk that everybody should watch! If you have any other “must watch” videos on the plight of...
Mite Warfare!

Mite Warfare!

The honey has been harvested, but there is still plenty of work to do in the bee yard.  A large part of that work in these waning days of summer involve us helping the bees get ready for the long Michigan winter.  In addition to making sure the bees have enough honey...
Honey Harvest 2010!

Honey Harvest 2010!

August is the month we remove surplus honey from our colonies.  We started the process last week, and plan to remove the last batch this week.  This was actually one of our better years, given the combination of an abundance of moisture and warm sunny weather.   By...