"RAW FILTERED HONEY" - IN PROCESS

 

DRONE COMB IN THE PRODUCTION HIVE FOR MITE CONTROL

 On a recent trip to the Le Seuer MN mating yard I got the chance to show some young people how we use drone comb to attract and remove mites (Varroa destructor) from the hives during the production season.  It is also a great time to teach the kids about the stingless male bee.  Note the red mite on the larva in the young mans hand, along with the emerged drone adult.

Photo credit to his Grandma!

ROTATIONAL GRAZING OF SHEEP HELPS WITH HONEY PRODUCTION

There is a special feeling one has when one good thing leads to another good thing, and then another...

Four of our hives are located on a small farmstead just SE of Northfield MN.  The nice folks who live on this beautiful place have a large family and raise a whole lot of their own food.  About 6 years ago I was fortunate to become their beekeeper. They also have a passion for sharing their way of living with others, holding large gatherings of like-minded families several times each year.  Attendance at these gatherings is increasing.  They are really on to something.

It has been a true joy to be a part of what they are doing, and we have been fortunate to produce quite a bit of surplus for sharing and for sale to others. 

The oldest son has responsibility for the care of the family flock of sheep.  And he is really good at it! In recent times he has started an 'old school' rotational grazing program which has resulted in clover and fresh pasture being available to the sheep and the bees all season.  Hey!  More forage helps make more honey!  This is a throwback to earlier times in the 20th century when bees could find pasture all thru the growing season and honey crops were much larger, on average, than they are today.  The young man is thinking about adding chickens to the pasture rotation to add more fertility and productivity to the equation. It is more work, but it adds to the operation and requires less equipment and fuel.

A real family farm may be the finest example of what humans and nature can do when they truly work together.

It turns out that one good thing often does lead to another, and another, and another.
 

BEE BALM HIVES

 Bee Balm, Wild Bergamot, Horsemint, Monarda fistulosa is a true American and Minnesota native!  It is adaptable and a hardy competitor in prairie environments.  The photo below shows a couple of thriving hives in an apiary near my home.  The Monarda was planted on disturbed ground following the installation of a neighbor's septic mound system.  Some of the honey supers are coincidentally painted in Bee Balm colors.

PERFECT!

SWEET CLOVER FLOW

The White Sweet Clover (Melilotus alba) accounts for the last significant honey flow in SE Minnesota.  While considered "invasive" along with its slightly earlier blooming cousin, Yellow Sweet Clover (Melilotus officinalis), these tall clover plants were introduced to North America by Europeans about the time honey bees were introduced (1600's).  Today, with the loss of natural habitat they are key to a successful honey crop for beekeepers.  

 

MATING YARD

The idea is to create an isolated mating yard to propagate queens purchased from the Russian Honey Bee Breeders Association (https://www.russianhoneybeebreeders.org/) for use by me and other local beekeepers. This is the first grouping of colonies. 

BASSWOOD BLOOM

 

This is what it is all about late June, early July.  The American Linden, or Basswood (Tilia americana) is a major source of nectar.  Because the trees are common along the river valleys and the forests of SE Minnesota they bloom over a fairly long period of time.  The ones in towns and cities seem to bloom first and the ones in cooler, shaded areas bloom later.

DRONE COMB TO AID IN MITE CONTROL

 Some beekeepers, including me, use cultural methods to help with control of the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor).  One of these methods involves putting special frames into the hive which the bees recognize as drone comb frames.  When the queen lays eggs in these cells, she makes sure they are unfertilized - resulting in drone larvae.  Drones take a much longer time to develop and they have more 'fat bodies' making them preferred by the mite mothers.  In short, once the cells are capped by the workers and the frames are removed by the beekeeper, the mites are removed from the hive.  The chickens are happy to take it from there, making a meal of the Drone grubs and the attached mites.

A closeup view is below.