• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

small things

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Inspiration
  • F.A.Q.
  • Ravelry
  • Our Handmade Shop
  • Yarn Along

Honeybee News

DSC_6864-1Jonny and I are having a lot of fun with our bees this year.  I remember last year being nervous about things going wrong, about being stung, and all sorts of things. It was fun, but it wasn’t laid back fun.  This year is different.  I’m not worried about anything.  That is, even though everything hasn’t worked out exactly perfectly.  See the hive above on the right?  We’re calling that one Candleford again.  And the one of the left is Lark Rise. Here’s what happened: Remember that video I posted of all the bees pouring into Candleford the day we installed them?  That was really cool.  However, we soon realized that most of the bees from both packages joined in, leaving Lark Rise a rather pitiful little colony.

Here’s a photo of the entrance to Candleford.  The bees are busy and there is lots of activity.  There’s a short little video below to give you a better idea:

And here’s a little video of what’s going on at the entrance of Lark Rise:  Not much.

You can see pretty much all of the Lark Rise bees in this photo.  They are all clustered on a handful of frames, carrying for the small amount of brood that they can manage.

They do have a laying queen, and actually that is her at the bottom of this frame.  Unfortunately, there aren’t enough bees to care for all the eggs she is laying and many are just drying up.  But, they have a little capped brood of their own about to emerge, and we have given them a frame full of capped brood from the stronger Candleford hive, and will probably grab another in the next week or two.  Soon those new bees will be emerging and Lark Rise will have a better work force.  Making these little maneuvers, we are hoping to give them the boost they need to get going.  It will be so much fun to see if this works out.  Hopefully we will end up with two strong hives of bees this year.

Finally, Here’s a video of a bee in the crimson clover.  When I shared photos of the clover earlier this week, the bees weren’t taking too much interest in it yet.  They wait until it reaches a certain point, and then they descend and there are a buzzing bunch of bees in the clover patch.  I like to sit an watch them.

Related Posts

  • A failure of sortsA failure of sorts
  • A little bit of honeyA little bit of honey
  • Kitchen WeekKitchen Week
  • Swarm SagaSwarm Saga
  • Rainy WeekRainy Week
  • Warm Almost WinterWarm Almost Winter

Filed Under: beekeeping · · 22 Comments

Ginny

I believe that when you slow down and savor the small things, you don’t have to wish for a different life; you can discover beauty in the life you already have. {Find out more here...}

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Abby Walsman says

    May 6, 2013 at 10:11 pm

    I love the video of the bees on the crimson clover! I love that flower—and the bees! 🙂 I just read on face book that you had a ruff night. I’m so sorry. Praying for you all. Love you!

    Reply
  2. aimee says

    May 4, 2013 at 7:36 am

    My husband does all our bee work, but is there a reason you didn’t paint your hive bodies and supers?

    Once you harvest some honey I would suggest making some into creamed honey, it was a big hit at our house and we gave it as gifts all year.

    Reply
    • Ginny says

      May 4, 2013 at 9:25 am

      We used an eco wood finish rather than paint, just because I prefer the look. We’ll see if they hold up as well though as painted ones, probably not.

      Reply
  3. Nahuatl Vargas says

    May 3, 2013 at 10:42 pm

    And another video from Costa Rica, when we had a backyard. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nahuatlv/6297373369/

    Reply
  4. Nahuatl Vargas says

    May 3, 2013 at 10:41 pm

    I love to read about your bees and I dream along for someday being able to take care of hives.
    Here is a video of a bee in the Mexico City’s summer, I love to watch them as well. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nahuatlv/7682798718/

    Reply
  5. sheila says

    May 3, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    Love this post! So much fun to read and watch! Just like all those great chicken coops on Pinterest, would love to try it, but when will I have the time?

    Have a great weekend,
    Sheila

    Reply
  6. dairygran says

    May 3, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    So interesting. Thanks lots.

    Reply
  7. tara says

    May 3, 2013 at 4:37 pm

    I love that video! It’s so peaceful, and the bird in the background has such a pretty song!

    I hope your bees work out! I love hearing about them.

    Reply
  8. Jenny says

    May 3, 2013 at 4:27 pm

    Bees are on our bucket list too, but we live in town and worry about the effect of road noise and mowers. Can you tell us more about your crimson clover? I purchased some and planted it after seeing yours the last two years and it has done absolutely nothing. I’m just wondering what I might be doing wrong.

    Reply
    • Ginny says

      May 3, 2013 at 4:43 pm

      I plant it in the fall, and it blooms in the spring…that’s all I know!

      Reply
  9. Chelle says

    May 3, 2013 at 4:08 pm

    Even bees want to leave the poor farming community to be in on the fun at the town. Maybe you should call the other one Oxford instead of Larkrise, and see what happens…

    Reply
  10. Barbara says

    May 3, 2013 at 2:43 pm

    Thanks, Ginny, for the great video. I am just finishing up teaching parts of a flower and today we learned about pollination by bees in particular. How lucky we were to watch your great videos! And that crimson clover is gorgeous.

    PS We learned today that bees determine at the beginning of each day which flowers to go to — that they don’t just stop at random flowers. That is why they are such great pollinators — they are bringing the right pollen to each plant.

    Reply
  11. Mary-- The Yellow Door Paperie says

    May 3, 2013 at 1:17 pm

    What lovely photos and video! Beekeeping is on my bucket list!

    Reply
  12. Andrea says

    May 3, 2013 at 10:45 am

    The video of the bee in the crimson clover just might very well be the most relaxing thing that I’ve watched in a long time! 🙂 Of course, your whole site is a charming, peaceful respite, so I shouldn’t be surprised. Thanks for the beautiful Friday post!

    Reply
  13. Amber says

    May 3, 2013 at 10:35 am

    So exciting! My hubby and I have dreams of owning bees of our own someday, but I will admit that the whole thing is a bit intimidating. But until then, I will enjoy reading about your adventures in bee-keeping!

    Reply
  14. Crystal says

    May 3, 2013 at 10:19 am

    I love when you post about your bees!! We had hives on our farm when I was little, so I don’t remember them well, but if we ever move to the country again with my own clan, I would so get bees!! I hope your hives are both strong this year- and I hope you’ve been feeling well too! I often say a little prayer for you and the bun in the oven 🙂

    Reply
  15. caitlin says

    May 3, 2013 at 9:57 am

    the birds sounds are stunning too! you lucky things!

    Reply
  16. Beverly says

    May 3, 2013 at 9:38 am

    How do you keep from being stung? I’m terrified of bees, had a really bad reaction to being stung.

    Reply
    • Ginny says

      May 3, 2013 at 9:41 am

      We wear protective clothing, including veils that protect our faces. These bees aren’t aggressive at all though. We haven’t been stung this year, and last year were only stung on one occasion when we were doing stupid things 🙂

      Reply
  17. jenny says

    May 3, 2013 at 9:33 am

    hi :). we lost both of our hives this winter, also. our new bees arrive next week. did you leave your old bees’ comb and honey intact for the new bees? we were told that they will clean house when they move in and will use the hand-me-down materials 🙂 that makes me like bees even more!

    Reply
    • Ginny says

      May 3, 2013 at 9:39 am

      Yes we did! We rotated all the frames through the freezer first to kill any pests and gave both colonies fully drawn out frames and even capped honey. We are hoping that this helps to get them off to a great start!

      Reply
  18. Brooke says

    May 3, 2013 at 9:30 am

    Well, I am very interested! We are hopefully going to be babysitting some hives on our property and learning how to care for them so I am eating up all this info.
    Great problem solving!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Beverly Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

20131220-DSC_2160

Get peace, beauty & goodness delivered to your inbox

Sign Up for Emails

Hello! My name is Ginny. I believe that when you slow down and savor the small things, you don’t have to wish for a different life; you can discover beauty in the life you already have. {Find out more here…}

Small Things Sponsors

handmade wooden buttons wooden drying racks natural toys Little Spruce Organics hand painted wood figures naturally dyed yarn and fiber gifts
Join us the first Wednesday of every month!

Advent and Christmas reading

Footer

I write about

Archives

Looking for something?

Translate

Disclosure

I often link to resources that I and my family personally use and recommend. I participate in the Amazon associates program and if you enter Amazon.com through my blog and then make a purchase, I receive a small percentage of the sale. I never recommend a product or resource for the sole purpose of being compensated financially. If I write that we use or love something, you can trust that we do.

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2019 Small Things · Designed with Jeni @ The Blog Maven

»
«