Homemade top bar hive

Made this hive over the winter. Hived with a package of bees. Hive is 48 inches long. At this time I would say half of the bars have comb being built on them. Very little work to do with this type hive, put bees in and let them go to work. Very gentle have not used any smoke to date.

Bait Hive

Made a bait hive for catching swarms. Nothing like free bees. Placed a nuc box with five frames that I sprayed with lemongrass oil. Will see how things go as swarm season approaches.

Making a Walk-Away-Split

My queens in my hives are two years old and I plan to re-queen in the fall. I want queens from my present hives so I have made a couple of walk-away-splits. One frame with eggs, two frames of capped brood with nurse bees, honey and pollen. Place in five frame nuc nad let bees raise their own queen. In four weeks check for a laying queen.

Church Youth Project Beekeeping

I received a grant from Blount County Beekeepers Club to help promote beekeeping. Used the money to purchase a hive and a package of bees for the youth group. They are very interested in the the project. They have assembled the hive,painted it and have installed the bees. They are looking forward to the many stages of beekeeping that lay ahead in the year.

Bee Tree

Well winter has come and gone and my two hives have done well. The hives are very active and queens are busy laying. Took on a side job of removing bees from a dead tree. Doesn't sound to hard untile you actually take on the task. Notched the tree so as not to fall over a fence, tied chains to pull the tree with a tractor in the direction we wanted. All went well with bringing the tree down, but now had to cut the bees out and put into a five fram nuc box. Found the queen so all the bees followed her into the nuc box. Bees may have been on their last year, not strong at all. Hope to let them build up and hive them in ten fram box at a later date.

Winter: A Slow Time

Things have been slow in the bee business. Checked bees yesterday and all seems fine. They are still in the bottom section of the hive. Still have ample stores. Have had cold weather and a couple of snows. Looking for a break in the weather.

Blue Ribbon for Photo

Went to the Tennessee Beekeepers Convention this year that was held in Cookville,TN. Lots of good speakers Keith Delaplane of Univ. Georgia,John Skinner Univ.Tennessee,Mike Studer Tennessee State Apiarist,Phil Craft Kentucky State Apiarist,Ann Harman Writer for a number of publacations,Kent Williams a certified master beekeeper and Fred Hembree a Journeyman Beekeeper. Was a very good convention. I entered the picture you see at the top of my journal and won a blue ribbon. Lots of good pictures were there and feel lucky to have won.