Author Archives: AmericanHeritageApiary

What do I like to have with me when I’m working hives? -butane torch and a back up lighter to tend to my smoker -sharpie to put notes on hive lid, pen for notes, and paint pen for marking queens -hair roller cage to temporarily put a queen in when making a split or toContinue reading “Bee Jacket Pockets”

Used some of the down time to clean up an area to store equipment in a barn on one of the farms I have bees on. Turned out great!

Cold weather has moved in with some pending snow making for a slow week. It’s the final calm before the storm. Packages arrive May 1st, queen cells need to be set, builders set up etc. I did take advantage of some nice weather to paint some supers I got from hillco. Very nice supers, goodContinue reading “Slow Week”

What is it: VSH is a trait that is expressed in honey bees where they will remove the varroa destructor mite infested cells from the brood nest. It is a physical and natural way for a hive to control mite populations. This enables the hive to thrive throughout the honey production season keeping mites inContinue reading “Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH)”

19 of 20 of the grafts were successful! I still had 3 cells that weren’t capped. I did mess up one of the uncapped cells but put it back in to see if they save it or not. 16 cells into the incubator!

Packages are almost back from Georgia, getting excited! Today I’ll be mixing 30 gallons of 1:1 syrup and getting my pliers and knife ready for doing the installations. I’ll be using my spring feed mix. I will be posting a video of how I like to do the package install as early as I canContinue reading “Package Prep”

This one comes up all the time… and I used to really struggle with it. The biggest thing I learned is that there a ton of materials and ways to do it but it’s a process and it takes time. Be patient and take your time to ensure the smoker body itself gets really niceContinue reading “Smoker Lighting”

Here’s my 24 hour later quick peak to see if any grafts were accepted!