March

once supers, now nucs

My first attempt using Robos technique worked out pretty well and I ended up with six queens. I have started another crop already. I knew I would need to get some more boxes but when I looked up the price to buy cardboard or plastic nucs, and I decided that I would be better off for now to just rebuild some of my old supers that I already have. Since I am transitioning over to all mediums, primarily for the ease of lifting when they are full of bees and honey, it was pretty simple to just rip some of the deeps in half. There were some holes and splits in the old boxes, but I think it will still workout better than the cardboard or plastic and much less expensive in the long run.

12 nucs

We had already planned to get a few new queens this year so we made a trip to Miksa Honey Farm in Groveland, Florida to pick up four Italians and four Ontario Buckfast queen cells. Last year we got queens from them and were very pleased. Miksa is a highly reputable company that specializes in queens. I don't replace all our queens at once, but try to stay aware of when a new queen may be needed on short notice--it happens. I also feel that using new, quality breed queens along with my own breeding, has considerably strengthened my apiary because of the genetics. When I first replaced queens it was only when I lost one resulting in hives that were sometimes stronger and sometimes weaker; I didn't seem to have any control over it. When I started replacing some of the queens every year with queens from a decided genetic line as opposed to "mutts," the hives seems to be consistently stronger and withstand the winter with more vigor in the spring.

I like to open feed in half barrels filled with hay the bees don't drown and I don't know but I like think them crawl. I used to use primarily jar feeders, but this is not only easier but it prevents robbing and seems more natural. It's just my own idea, but bees naturally go out from the hive to feed. I do know that a lot more bees were killed in the other types of feeders I've tried, and this is very simple, cheap, and easy to maintain. I just procured this shelter from a friend, but before that the barrels just sat out on the lawn.

Bees are not the only things that sting in Florida, and it's always a good habit to look before putting your hand under something. This is a Black Widow spider I found moving pallets and empty supers. Snakes and scorpions are also seen around here frequently, so I have to really look at what I'm doing. It's probably made me less concerned about safety around bees than I should be. Getting stung on the face is always the worst to look at, but the fingers hurt the most.

                        
The State of Florida now has a regulatory system for Cottage Food Operations that allows for the production of non potentially hazardous foods, including honey, prepared in a personal residence using home kitchen appliances. Annual gross sales cannot exceed $15,000 and your products cannot be sold on the internet, mail order or wholesale, which includes such places as restaurants and retail outlets. There are food labeling requirements, and the Department of Agriculture has the authority to investigate home-based food operations if there is a legitimate complaint and enforce penalties for non compliance.

These are examples of our new front and back labels we ordered for our 2 lb jars this year. We've never bothered having labels on our honey since we could only take donations. We tried once to make them, but the ink ran since we only have an inkjet and we didn't realize the labels had to be printed on a lazer printer to hold up to use. This year with the cottage food law, we started looking at labels to buy. What worked for us was a label made by  Anne Turnham at Custom Honey Labels. Anne is a Minnesota beekeeper who started making honey labels for her bee club and is now taking orders from across the U.S. and Canada.  She's got a wide variety of designs to suit whatever your image is, the prices are very good, and she pays personal attention to what you need on your label. Really a full-service business; it makes us feel important even though our orders are small.

Spring is a busy time in the bee business. Though I've been working all winter here in Florida, plants are starting to bloom and the daylight is lasting longer, so I tend to work longer days just like the bees.

Queen Rearing Project

Queen cells

This week I have been working on rearing Queen's. I had attempted to do some last year with little success. I would liked to find some hands on training, but I live in a fairly rural area and the cost to go to one of the few special classes offered in Florida was just not feasible for me. 


 I  came across ROBOS WORLD on the internet and was very interested in the way he was rearing Queens.  It is a combination of using the the Nicot System and Cloake Board. 

Nurse bees

 So far, I have been very satisfied with the results. I have eight cells and when I checked today it appears that only one of the cell's is not producing a Queen. The instructions ROBO provides are accurate and easy to follow. The Queens should hatch around February 6. 

Queen cells

I purchased the Nicot System and Cloake Board from Brushy Mountain, and I have always been very pleased with their service. They also host "webinars that you can watch online. They are a great source for information and a pleasure to do business with. 

The aquaponics and BeePonic's continue to do well I recently started some collard greens and cumbers. The lettuce and chard are still doing well with the warm weather. I expect the tilapia will start to consume more food and begin to grow more rapidly. I would like to get some catfish in order to keep the tilapia population controlled, otherwise they will over produce and which will stunt their growth. The catfish will keep the fry population down and hopefully avoid any problem with overpopulating.