Q: Who is the bees favorite singer?

A: Sting!

Q: Who is the bees favorite pop group?

A: The bee gees!

Q: What do you get if you cross a bee with a skunk?

A: An animal that stinks and stings!

Q: What does a queen bee do when she burps?

 A: Issues a royal pardon!

Q: How does a queen bee get around her hive?

A: She's throne!

Q: What does the bee Santa Claus say?

A: Ho hum hum!

Q:…

Anecdotal evidence from out of state (specifically Georgia and North Carolina) suggests that we may experience an earlier swarm season than last year. It seems that last year's swarm season heated up about the first of April. If that pattern holds true, we may see swarm preparations as early as the next week or two.

The contrast of low stores in our hives and an early swarm season may seem contradictory, but that is what many others are seeing. Perhaps these conditions put hives into…

While in South Carolina this past week, I took advantage of the warm weather to inspect my sister's bees. She has only one hive at the present, and she commented that "the warm winter has allowed them to fly almost every day."

What I found was alarming. There were zero stores left in the hive. The bees were actively bringing in pollen, and the queen had laid a hand-sized patch of brood on three frames, but that must have been an act of faith that there would be some…

There is an old saying that "if you ask 10 beekeepers a question, you will get 11 answers". One of the obvious implications of this truth is that someone is wrong. 

This was a hard lesson for me to learn as a new beekeeper. I wanted to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and believe that no one would write anything that wasn't completely true. And I desperately needed info I could count on as I went forward in this new adventure.

So I write this note for new (and not so new)…

Inspection  Report 01-10-12

Weather upper 50s and slight wind.  Today is the best day to try and get the feeders off.  If not today looks like another week or 2 before a nice day.

Hive 1:  Removed the feeder on this hive lost some bees because they would not leave the feeder.  Had burr comb in the entrance to the feeder

Hive 2:  Did not open

Hive 3:  A few bees on the sugar but doesn’t look like they have eaten much if any

Hive 4:  Looks like ¼ the bees on…