Breeds of Bees – Keeping Backyard Bees https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com Mon, 30 Mar 2020 18:15:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://i2.wp.com/www.keepingbackyardbees.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/favicon.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Breeds of Bees – Keeping Backyard Bees https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com 32 32 Andrena: The Mining Bees https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/andrena-the-mining-bees-zbwz2003zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/andrena-the-mining-bees-zbwz2003zsau/#respond Fri, 27 Mar 2020 16:45:36 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=5172 Honeybees get all the press, but the fascinating story of North America’s native bees — endangered species essential to our ecosystems and food supplies — is just as crucial. Through interviews with farmers, gardeners, scientists, and bee experts, Our Native Bees (Timber Press), by Paige Embry, explores the importance of native bees and focuses on why […]

The post Andrena: The Mining Bees appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/andrena-the-mining-bees-zbwz2003zsau/feed/ 0 Comparing Bumblebees With Honeybees https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/comparing-bumble-bees-with-honey-bees-zbwz1909zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/comparing-bumble-bees-with-honey-bees-zbwz1909zsau/#comments Tue, 03 Sep 2019 00:51:10 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=4447 Honeybees and bumblebees are the two most well-known bee species. Many people assume that the two live very similarly or that what is true of honey bees is also true of bumblebees, but they have some fascinating differences. Read on to find out how bumblebees differ from honeybees. Bee colonies Bumblebees and honeybees both live […]

The post Comparing Bumblebees With Honeybees appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/comparing-bumble-bees-with-honey-bees-zbwz1909zsau/feed/ 5 The Sneaky Behavior of Cuckoo Bees https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/sneaky-behavior-of-cuckoo-bees-zbwz1905zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/sneaky-behavior-of-cuckoo-bees-zbwz1905zsau/#comments Thu, 30 May 2019 13:47:20 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=4388 Cuckoo bees are closely related to their host species. Their appearance and size will depend on the host species. For example, if their host species is bumblebees then they will look like bumblebees. The difference is, cuckoo bees will always be solitary.

The post The Sneaky Behavior of Cuckoo Bees appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/sneaky-behavior-of-cuckoo-bees-zbwz1905zsau/feed/ 2 Creating a Bumblebee Nest https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/creating-a-bumblebee-nest-zbwz1902zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/creating-a-bumblebee-nest-zbwz1902zsau/#comments Mon, 25 Feb 2019 23:15:03 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=4298 The importance of bumblebees as agricultural pollinators can’t be overstated. Unlike honey bees, they are able to forage in cold, rainy, and cloudy conditions, so it is possible to see them in all kinds of weather. Even on a cold morning you can find a bumblebee sleeping inside a flower blossom waiting for some warmth […]

The post Creating a Bumblebee Nest appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/creating-a-bumblebee-nest-zbwz1902zsau/feed/ 7 10 Steps to Requeening a Hot Hive https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/10-steps-to-requeen-a-hot-hive-zbwz1901zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/10-steps-to-requeen-a-hot-hive-zbwz1901zsau/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2019 19:14:04 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=4259 It’s amazing the way a beehive can have a personality. While the colony is made up of thousands of individual bees, it is the overall collective demeanor of the group that makes it as if you are working with a single organism. If you have an overly-aggressive hive you can change the behavior of your […]

The post 10 Steps to Requeening a Hot Hive appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/10-steps-to-requeen-a-hot-hive-zbwz1901zsau/feed/ 6 Do You Have a Hot Hive? https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/do-you-have-a-hot-hive-zbwz1901zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/do-you-have-a-hot-hive-zbwz1901zsau/#comments Wed, 30 Jan 2019 18:47:56 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=4255 The governor of Michigan just declared a State of Emergency for our state due to record-breaking low temperatures. As I write this post (January 2019), it’s currently -6 degrees F with a wind chill of -30. So worrying if our hive is overheated is really not a concern right now…quite the opposite. However, coming this […]

The post Do You Have a Hot Hive? appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/do-you-have-a-hot-hive-zbwz1901zsau/feed/ 7 Killer Bees Explained https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/killer-bees-explained-zbwz1811zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/killer-bees-explained-zbwz1811zsau/#comments Fri, 30 Nov 2018 01:16:39 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=4199 When my husband first showed interest in beekeeping, one of my biggest fears is that we would accidentally end up with a “Killer Bee” colony. I had heard rumors of Killer Bee colonies coming up from states like Florida to the north. Images of bee swarms chasing us in angry pursuit and thousands of deadly […]

The post Killer Bees Explained appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/killer-bees-explained-zbwz1811zsau/feed/ 10 Country Lore: Mason Bee Boxes https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/country-lore-mason-bee-boxes-zbwz1802zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/country-lore-mason-bee-boxes-zbwz1802zsau/#respond Thu, 08 Feb 2018 07:40:55 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=3794 Particularly useful in orchards, mason bees (also called blue orchard bees) can visit hundreds of flowers per day. They don’t make honey, but they collect pollen for nest holes where they lay eggs, and then plug the holes with mud. They look like small blue-black flies, and they rarely sting. The bee larvae and cocoons […]

The post Country Lore: Mason Bee Boxes appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/country-lore-mason-bee-boxes-zbwz1802zsau/feed/ 0 Types of Bees for Backyard Honey https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/types-of-bees-for-backyard-honey-zbwz1802zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/types-of-bees-for-backyard-honey-zbwz1802zsau/#respond Wed, 07 Feb 2018 23:01:01 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=3849 If you’re like me, when it comes to adding livestock — or any animal for that matter — to your home, you relish the research. It’s fun to flip through literature and find the breed, species, or whatever the subspecies (also called ecotypes) may be called that jumps out at you and finds its way […]

The post Types of Bees for Backyard Honey appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/types-of-bees-for-backyard-honey-zbwz1802zsau/feed/ 0 Carpenter Bees: The Harmless Garden Pollinators https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/carpenter-bees-the-harmless-garden-pollinators-zbwz1802zsau/ https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/carpenter-bees-the-harmless-garden-pollinators-zbwz1802zsau/#respond Sun, 04 Feb 2018 07:32:09 +0000 https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/?p=3792 Bees are one of the most important insects to us. Not only are they great garden pollinators, they maintain biological balance and recycle soil nutrients. Learn all about bees — from their appearance to the many unknown North American Species in Bees, Wasps, and Ants (Timber Press, 2010) by Eric Grissell. The following excerpt was taken from […]

The post Carpenter Bees: The Harmless Garden Pollinators appeared first on Keeping Backyard Bees.

]]> https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/carpenter-bees-the-harmless-garden-pollinators-zbwz1802zsau/feed/ 0