#keepingBackyardBees – Keeping Backyard Bees

Garden Plan for Attracting Pollinators

Claire Jones — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 10:40:18 +0000

Many pollinator species have suffered serious declines in recent years. Unfortunately, most of our landscapes offer little in the way of appropriate habitat, forage, and housing. Even the most beautiful gardens are not always healthy ecosystems for pollinators. Design choices, plant selections, and maintenance practices can make a huge difference in creating your own healthy […]

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Establishing a Successful Bee Garden

KBB Editor — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 10:23:17 +0000

The following is an excerpt from Keeping Bees and Making Honey by Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum (F&W Media, 2008). This spectacular book offers an in-depth profile of nature’s most effective pollinator and covers all aspects of modern beekeeping, including where and when to get your bees, different types of hives, how to harvest and […]

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What Are Bearding Bees?

Claire Jones — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 10:21:02 +0000

Congregating bees on the front of the hive is called bearding and new beekeepers often panic at the sight. Bees can mound themselves up in layers or form a single layer on a large area of the front of the hive in a reaction to conditions within the hive. Methods that new beekeepers often try include […]

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How to Trap Bee Swarms

Claire Jones — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 10:09:38 +0000

Bees are expensive and you don't want to lose the swarms that come off your hives and hopefully catch others to increase your population. For an investment of about $25 in materials with scrap wood, paint, flashing, and lemon grass oil, I ended up with three additional hives with very little effort.

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Lemongrass Swarm Lure Recipe

KBB Editor — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 10:09:20 +0000

If you want to increase your chance of successfully attracting a swarm, you can add an attractant to your bait hive. Lemongrass is very similar to the queen bee’s scent. Honeybees find the mixture of lemongrass and beeswax irresistible. Lemongrass Swarm Lure Recipe Yield: 3 ounces Ingredients 2 tablespoons beeswax 1/4 cup olive oil 40 […]

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Prepare Your Bees for Extreme Heat

Brad James — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 10:09:00 +0000

Bees get hot just like humans do. Be prepared to support them during extreme heat by taking a look at water, ventilation, nutrition and helping to make sure they have easy access to these. If you don't, your beekeeping experience may be less enjoyable.

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Protect Your Bees from Hot Weather

Hilary Kearney — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 20:31:29 +0000

When temperatures rise to extremely high levels, your bees may be at risk. The world is suffering from higher than normal temperatures as the climate crisis rages on, but some beekeepers are also suffering colony losses. Most of the time, bees are best able to control the temperature inside the hive themselves, but when thermostats […]

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Spring Beekeeping: What Are Your Bees Up To?

Brad James — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 21:03:29 +0000

Spring has sprung! March 19th marked the official beginning of the warmer seasons, and, for beekeepers, that means we’re back in business. There’s not a whole lot of beekeeping to do during the winter months. Before we get the jump on spring beekeeping, it’s important to know what the bees are going to be doing […]

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Identifying Different Types of Bees

Hilary Kearney — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 19:41:18 +0000

With over 4,000 species of native bees in North America, many people understandably have trouble identifying one from the other. What’s more, curious naturalists often mistake other types of pollinators for bees. It’s easy to confuse a fly or a wasp with a bee because they all share similar coloring and markings. So, how can […]

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Bee-Friendly Plants: Catnip

KBB Editor — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 17:00:58 +0000

The international bee crisis is threatening our global food supply, but this user-friendly field guide shows what you can do to help protect our pollinators. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation offers browsable profiles of 100 common flowers, herbs, shrubs, and trees that support bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. The recommendations are simple: pick the […]

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