Lots of packages arriving in SW Michigan this week and next. Following are suggestions for dealing with a few rare, but alarming, install issues, and some key first-week advice. Install Issues A sealed feeder can! (NOT GOOD) This has happened to two beekeepers I’ve...
Oh my. I just looked at my “recent” posts … and it has been since December. So sorry; I’ll try to do better! Part of that is because I post frequently on my Facebook page, “Charlotte Hubbard, Beekeeper and …” I also post on...
In these dwindling days of 2016, we SW Michigan beekeepers wouldn’t normally know the status of our colonies. But Mother Nature wanted us to give us more to worry about than the peaceful transition of democracy and whether Detroit beats Green Bay. Temps in the mid-50s...
The most important thing you can do to prepare for winter is to ensure your colonies are healthy. Hopefully you’ve been monitoring religiously for mites, treating if need bee, and have the counts under control. For any colonies that don’t make it through...
A fellow beekeeper recently summarized it well: “It’s a bee-itch to love a bug.” So so so true, especially this time of year. Mite counts are soaring–are you testing, and treating if need bee? A count can go out of control real quickly in a strong colony,...
This is bearding, and it is quite common this time of year. As I recently explained in a recent Facebook post (you can find me on FB under ‘Charlotte Hubbard, Beekeeper and …’), bees do it because they’re at peak population. When the foraging...
