In prepping my house for painting, I replaced a lot of old trim and ratty railings, and found plenty of evidence of leafcutter bees in the vertical gaps between the window-trim nailers and the siding, as well as orchard bees nesting in the empty screw holes during the procrastination gap between prep and actual painting.
While I am a consumer of honey (yum!) and surely appreciate the ecological roles that bees play and the stately, dignified profession of beekeeping, you, and all beekeepers, are INSANE.
I hope your bee-happiness-making plants include borage. It is super easy to grow, reseeds like a weed and bees go totally wild for it. Bonus! Its beautiful flowers are the old-school, original garnish for a Pimm's Cup!
Make sure you keep sugar syrup on them until the blackberry bloom happens in June. Otherwise, you will starve your bees. We have a nectar dearth that lasts from about now (maples) to the blackberry. Bees need the sugar to raise young and they will starve out without it. Starving a new colony from a package is the most common mistake for new beekeepers.
As long as they're being fed, they're easy to medicate. Fumagillin, the standard treatment for nosema disease, can be administered in syrup, and should be used preventatively due to how common nosema is.
Also, put a brick or similarly heavy object on top of the outer cover. All it takes is for one raccoon to get at your hive and start pulling out frames...
From 9:
"Make sure you keep sugar syrup on them until the blackberry bloom happens in June. Otherwise, you will starve your bees. We have a nectar dearth that lasts from about now (maples) to the blackberry. Bees need the sugar to raise young and they will starve out without it. Starving a new colony from a package is the most common mistake for new beekeepers."
Congrats, Gillian. I've always had the deepest admiration for people who know how to keep bees. Where I lived in Vancouver - about three houses down in the front yard - there was a homemade stand with a slot to drop in $4 and a few jars of honey there to take. Totally the honor system. Wouldn't dream of stealing honey from someone so trusting, eh? Anyway, I loved that. And I love beekeepers. It's right there on my bucket list with learning how to forage wild mushrooms.
http://baynature.org/articles/web-only-a…
http://buzzybeegirl.wordpress.com/2008/0…
http://cagardenweb.ucdavis.edu/?blogtag=…
http://www.catalystmagazine.net/index.ph…
http://www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/…
I NO WANNA GET STUNG.
Also, put a brick or similarly heavy object on top of the outer cover. All it takes is for one raccoon to get at your hive and start pulling out frames...
"Make sure you keep sugar syrup on them until the blackberry bloom happens in June. Otherwise, you will starve your bees. We have a nectar dearth that lasts from about now (maples) to the blackberry. Bees need the sugar to raise young and they will starve out without it. Starving a new colony from a package is the most common mistake for new beekeepers."
Have you gotten stung yet?
The buzz on campus isn't just from the bees!