So, I decided to learn about beekeeping - I immediately went to the web and Googled beekeeping. Lots of hits. I found some commercial beekeeping operations, folks that sold beekeeping equipment, some online forums and links to some local beekeeping clubs - I'll put the best of these on the sidebar shortly. The best thing was to connect with the local beekeeping club. I started emailing two members and they both invited me to their meeting.
The beekeeping club was an informal gathering of the local beekeepers (or beeks) swapping stories and lessons learned. There are some folks in this group with large quantities of hives and many years of experience and then there are also some beginners like me. I have made a connection with a few of them and hope to learn from their experience.
Perhaps the largest ingestion of knowledge has come from the beekeeping forums. These are a great place to ask questions (almost anonymously) and get a great variety of answers. This community is very interested in helping use "newbees" succeed and I have found them very friendly. After reading a bunch of posts, I put a question online about what equipment I needed to buy to start out and got some fantastic advice.
For now - a place to capture my adventures in Virginia beekeeping.
Sweet Accounting
20012 Honey
4/21...16 pints (9 frames)
2011 Honey
8/13... (5 frames, 2 shallow)
7/17..39 pints (11 frames some shallow)
7/4 .. 10 pints (6 frames, (4 shallow))
6/12 .. 18 pints (7 frames)
5/28 .. 20 pints (8 frames)
5/14 .. 25 pints (9 frames)
2010 Honey
afraid my records were poor this year, but based on sales/gifts about 20 gallons.
'09 - honey - 24 gallons!
10/23 . 16 pints (9 frames)
9/18 ... 38 pints
7/11 ... 42 pints (14 frames)
6/21 ... 47 pints (18 frames)
6/13 ... 26 pints (11 frames)
5/26 ... 24 pints
'08 - (# of frames of honey harvested)
Hive #1 (deep frames)
5/21 ... 4
5/29 ... 2
Hive #2 (medium frames)
5/29 ... 3
6/8 ..... 5
6/15 ... 1
Hive #3 (medium frames)
5/29 ... 2
6/8 ..... 3
6/15 ... 4
6/25 ... 1
4/21...16 pints (9 frames)
2011 Honey
8/13... (5 frames, 2 shallow)
7/17..39 pints (11 frames some shallow)
7/4 .. 10 pints (6 frames, (4 shallow))
6/12 .. 18 pints (7 frames)
5/28 .. 20 pints (8 frames)
5/14 .. 25 pints (9 frames)
2010 Honey
afraid my records were poor this year, but based on sales/gifts about 20 gallons.
'09 - honey - 24 gallons!
10/23 . 16 pints (9 frames)
9/18 ... 38 pints
7/11 ... 42 pints (14 frames)
6/21 ... 47 pints (18 frames)
6/13 ... 26 pints (11 frames)
5/26 ... 24 pints
'08 - (# of frames of honey harvested)
Hive #1 (deep frames)
5/21 ... 4
5/29 ... 2
Hive #2 (medium frames)
5/29 ... 3
6/8 ..... 5
6/15 ... 1
Hive #3 (medium frames)
5/29 ... 2
6/8 ..... 3
6/15 ... 4
6/25 ... 1
Dictionary
- Brood Box - where the brood (the eggs, larva and young bees) are raised. Normally the bottom most box.
- Checkerboarding - Interspersing empty brood comb (or even foundation) into the brood area. This is done to give the queen more room to raise brood and hopefully not swarm.
- Entrance Reducer - Just a wooden stick made to fit in the entrance and make the entrance smaller. This will help keep in heat and allow the bees to guard the entrance better against bees that do not belong to the hive (robber bees).
- Orientation Flight - The first trip out of the hive by young bees. They try to understand their location so they can make it back home. Also occurs when the hive is moved.
- Super - meaning "above", is actually any box above the brood box (or boxes). Normally the location of honey!
- Syrup Feeder - Essentialy an upside down canning jar with pin holes punched in the lid. This is placed in the hive to feed the bees as needed.
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