THE BEECO APIARIES ROUNDUP
February Beekeeping
— updates from our apiary —
 
 
 
February temperatures are ranging in the upper 30’s and 60’s and even into 70. Lots of red maple trees and others in bud and the bees have started collecting pollen and nectar. Our main nectar flow typically begins in April here in central Georgia. The queen has been laying eggs since the Winter Solstice, and we are finding 3-4 frames of capped brood already in our hives. This tells us to prepare for lots of worker bees and to add more supers (boxes) to our hives. If bees sense too small of space, they will SWARM and find better accommodations, leaving us with no workers to collect the nectar and thus NO HONEY. These spring like conditions seem 2-3 weeks earlier this year. But BEWARE, March always brings a few days of below 30 weather here.
 
Last Monday evening, we attended the Eastern Piedmont Beekeepers Association meeting in Athens, GA. Big crowd and we learned a lot from Ron Putnam who spoke on checker boarding hives to reduce swarming and increase honey production. Here’s the link to the paper he referenced by Walt Wright.
 
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This photo was taken in mid-January. As you can see, some of the queens are already laying brood. Make sure you check and add supers if needed!
 
LCBA BEEKEEPING Course Recap
Our local beekeeping club hosted a beginning beekeeping class and we were pleased with the enthusiasm and turn out. Over 30 interested people along with their family members learned about bee biology, beekeeping equipment, and 10 Mistakes Every Beekeeper Makes. The biology of the honey bee is fascinating given that the queen is the only one out of 40,000 other bees that lays the egg for the next generation of bees. She can lay up to 3,000 eggs a day! The beekeeping catalogs keep getting thicker with the assortment beehives and beekeeping accessory tools. Our local bee equipment builder & LCBA member, Bruce Morgan focused on the basics and what a first year beekeeper needs to start a hive. Plus our local University of Georgia Extension Agent, Keith Fielder shared information and his experiences with bees and beekeepers.
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If you have or are considering beekeeping, our #1 advice is to get involved with a local beekeeping club & find a mentor to help you through the first two years.
 
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Thank you for your support!

Mary & Katherine

 

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