As mentioned in an earlier post, back in the summer I got bitten by the “bee bug”. After reading and reading and studying and attending meetings I’ve finally narrowed down the many choices for beekeeping styles to a Langstroth hive consisting of 8 frame medium supers. They are lighter than the ten frame deeps that most beekeepers use, because they don’t hold as much honey and comb as the 10 frame deeps. One thing I think I’m going to do is put Warre hive roofs and quilts on them to provide ventilation. I didn’t know it but bees have a real problem with condensation inside their hives, especially in the winter. The Warre hive quilt and roof provide “breathable” insulation and a vented roof and I’m going to put that on my hives instead of the normal flat roofs you see on beehives.
The area for the apiary on the farm that has been selected is nearby so I can watch the bees, it faces east, has a stream nearby, and is situated near a tree line to provide shelter from winter winds. I’ve read that the ground needs to be clear of vegetation so if a bee falls on the ground while flying back to the hive that they can get back on their wings if not hampered by vegetation–so, I cleared the area from vegetation and now I’m spreading wood chips from the utility company all around to make a nice clear area for the hives.
During the state beekeeping conference I attended a workshop where our state hive inspector opened a hive and showed us all kinds of things inside the hive; I like to pick up little tidbits during workshops and one thing he did say that was quite interesting was that one of the beekeepers in the state uses a 1 inch layer of lime underneath his hives to combat the small hive beetle. He spreads it to a 3 foot area around the hives and the inspector said he had never seen a beetle in one of those hives. Well, I have a huge pallet of lime that a friend gave me to lime my gardens with when I moved here, but turns out that my soil has a pH of 6.8 so I didn’t need lime (very unusual in this part of the state). That pallet of lime has just been waiting for my hives! As soon as the wood chips are all in place and the hives go up, then I’ll place the lime in its new home.
Today I purchased the lumber for the hives and I bought enough frames to do one box–I’m so excited 🙂
More info as the bee project progresses!
Wild Things Farm 