Author Archives: Phil Craft

This is part 1 of a two part post; part 2 will follow soon.

It is mid-summer, it is hot, and I for one don’t find opening hives to be much fun this time of year. The bees are sometimes grumpier, but mostly it is just the heat. I work bees in my regular summer work clothes (jeans and a t-shirt) along with a veil, and I find it pretty warm. Consider that many beekeepers, especially newer ones, feeling a need for more protection against stings, suit up head to toe in coveralls. For them, it’s even hotter. Never-the-less, if you have not had a look down in the brood boxes for a while, it is time for a mid-summer inspection.

In a recent post I cautioned beekeepers about robbing behavior by honey bees. It’s important to keep that in mind when opening hives, especially in July and August. Because of the threat of robbing and discomfort from the heat, I keep my summer inspections brief – about five minutes. The object is not to look at every frame thoroughly, but to spend just enough time in the hive to make sure that all is well. Only if I find a problem or cannot assure myself by a quick inspection that the hive is healthy, will I prolong my visit or make a follow-up inspection at a later time. Usually I can learn what I need to know by looking at just a few frames in each brood box. Continue reading →

If you’re reading this from Kentucky or the mid-west, you know it’s dry out there. Here at the home place we have gotten a little rain, but it is still pretty parched. A couple of weeks ago, if you had seen a picture of my bee yard, you might have imagined that it was October – grass brown and fallen leaves on the ground. Of course, if you were standing there in person in the 95°F heat, you would not have been fooled. Since then, we have received a couple of inches of rain. That has been a relief, though I could for more, but at least I am seeing some green in the yard.

I’m also making a real effort to keep water in my “bee waterer”, which is seeing a lot of traffic lately.

If you’re interested, you can view a video clip of my bees at the watering station.

Fortunately, my neighbor across the road doesn’t have a swimming pool up this summer, but I am concerned that my girls are making a nuisance of themselves at someone else’s pool party. Continue reading →

There is a real advantage to locating your beeyard close to the house. While I know that sometimes beekeepers need to have their hives in the back 40 or another remote location – kids, pets, neighbors, want them out of sight from thieves or vandals, etc. – there are real advantages to keeping the hives close at hand. I know from personal experience (I used to have an out-yard located several miles away) and I’ve seen it while visiting other beekeepers, if a beekeeper has to gather up beekeeping equipment, load a vehicle and drive to the apiary, the hives will not be checked on as often as they would if they are 100 feet away from the house.

Beekeepers with large numbers of hives have no choice in using out-yards since 15-20 hives is typically the most for one location. But for those of us with less than that number of hives, having them close can be a real advantage. If you are feeding hives or nucs, we have may have a 5-10 minute task if the hives are close, a half hour task if a drive is required. Continue reading →

Yes, our honey bees can become little criminals and steal from their neighbors! Their larceny is usually not much of a problem in the spring and early summer when a good nectar flow is on. But be alert! As the flow slows or stops, as is now occurring, bees are on the lookout for any source of food they can find. The closest source might be their neighbors’ hives. Weak hives (hives with decreased numbers of bees), new nucs or divides, recently captured swarms  – any hives that have not built up well or which are dwindling due to disease, pests, or other causes – are likely targets of robbing bees. Heavily robbed hives can face starvation very quickly, so beekeepers need to be observant to prevent or reduce this activity. The culprits may come from your own hives, from your neighbor’s, or from nearby bee trees.

A robbing response can also be triggered by beekeepers while working hives or removing honey supers at this time of year. Supers of honey, or even open brood boxes exposed in the bee yard, can be all the temptation that’s needed to initiate the behavior and, once begun, it quickly escalates. Try to go through hives quickly or cover boxes that are set off hives. When removing supers, take them out of your apiary as quickly as possible and keep them well covered if left temporarily outside. Continue reading →