Colorado Beekeepers Association
The easy way to collect clean propolis is to use a propolis trap late in the summer, when bees are already wanting to propolize everything in sight. It looks a lot like a a queen excluder (but different), and fits on top of the uppermost hive body. Once the bees get it filled with propolis, […]
Winter preparation of hives is the concern on everyone’s mind right now. Hopefully, everything is done already. The brood should be in the bottom hive body, and honey and bee bread consolidated in the box(es) above. The queen excluder should be removed, so that the bees can’t accidentally abandon the queen in moving to upper […]
We are getting on towards the end of August, and to our bees, it is almost fall. What makes the season “fall” to our honey bees? It is the slow-down of pollen coming into the hive. This change in pollen availability is what triggers our bees to raise the fat bees for winter. What makes […]
Dangers of spring When our bees survive through Feb. we breathe a sigh of relief, but the biggest danger of spring is really only beginning. Honey bees use 1/3 of their honey stores during the winter, and the other 2/3rds are used after brood rearing really begins in earnest. Spring pollen flows trigger the bees […]
Happy Beeks! I am sure you have all seen that your bees will fly if it is over 45 degrees. That is pretty amazing, since they can’t even move out of the cluster unless it is at least 40 degrees. These bee biology facts help us understand what we can do for our bees, and […]
Never Take Anything for Granted I did my mite counts in August, for once, when they should be done. I was very proud of myself. Of course you know that the reason for doing counts by mid-August is so that mites can be controlled before the bees begin rearing the fat winter bees. I did […]
My mother was right, you should always wear clean underwear….This was my husband’s comment after our latest beekeeping adventure. According to our friend Bruce, sometimes you need kevlar underwear, and maybe that would have helped in this instance, but only if Neil had been wearing the underwear on his head. The bees in my Aztec […]
First clues to search for in a hive inspection The 1-2-3 of every hive inspection 1) Is there a queen, and does the brood look all right? 2) Does the colony have enough food? 3) Does the colony have enough room? 1) The Queen The top left photo shows capped brood. Capped brood alone does […]
The reverse split A better way to split your hives In a reverse split, the queen moves to the new hive location along with almost all of the nurse bees. The foragers will remain in the parent, or original location. Many beekeepers currently are doing 50/50 splits, which of course only stay 50/50 if you […]
I must admit, I have a terrible weakness as a beekeeper. I can never give up. I see my girls trying their best to overcome some hurdle, and I want to help. After all, they haven’t given up.But, aside from ridiculous empathy for my bees, why put time and effort into a (usually) losing battle? […]
The Colorado Beekeepers Association shall be composed of Beekeepers of the State of Colorado and those interested in allied industries for the purpose of producing better beekeeping methods, better beekeepers, and a more unified system of apicultural work in Colorado.