Happy 2019 from snow-covered Virginia! It’s been a warm winter thus far; this weekend is the first we’ve seen of the white stuff. When the weather is cold, I prefer to have snow.
My 2018 was a busy beekeeping year, much of it not in my apiary. Since I haven’t been so diligent about recording my adventures here, I wanted to summarize the year with my first post of 2019.
My hives Saturn, Mimas, and Atlas this morning on January 13, 2019 after a night of snow. ©Erik Brown
After my success at reducing a standard deep nuc to a medium one (see Busy beeks are always metaling), I decided to take on the more daunting task of building a top bar hive nuc. After an adventure with hardware stores (yes, plural) and some minor angst on my part, I deem the effort a success.
Way back on November 5 the Virginia State Beekeepers Association (VSBA) had their annual Fall Meeting at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, Virginia. Speakers for the one-day meeting included Dr. Kirsten Traynor and Dr. Wyatt Mangum. I took some notes and have been meaning to write up a short summary of the event, so here it is. Continue reading
Happy New Year! Since I last caught up on Bees with Eeb, I have done great things! Well, not great things, but I ordered a package of Italians for my top bar hive, reviewed many options for spring and finished a few books on beekeeping. With the days growing longer, if not warmer, I’m looking forward to my bee class in roughly two weeks. So I thought my first post of the year should be to summarize my status and recent reading. Continue reading
I have been thinking about hives. While I am still keen to have a top bar hive, existing beekeepers keep telling me that I should start with Langstroth hives before trying top bars. So after some angst, I decided to seek some solace and advice in books and online. Continue reading