Colorado Beekeepers Association
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? […]
Several people in my club have asked this question recently…”shouldn’t I wait to use the oxalic acid vaporizer until it is colder?” I wanted to vaporize while it was warmer, and this is a good chance to learn to think about bees. Here are the facts we know, and some questions: The bees started making […]
Winter is the perfect time to learn about our bees, and the perfect time to set goals for ourselves and our beekeeping. The CSBA Master Beekeeper Certification Program is gearing up for a busy and educational summer. I am meeting this week with our web guy (have you seen our new web page?) about getting […]
One of the neat things about horizontal beekeeping versus (vertical) Langstroth beekeeping is that you can be a lot more active in the winter without disturbing the cluster. I just got in a couple of my top bar hives yesterday. Working from the back of the hive I removed full honey combs and set them […]
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.