Are all honey bees the same?
Is a bee just a bee? Is one bee as good as another bee? Heavens, NO!
Short Course 2004 by George Imirie
Don’t be cheap about buying quality bees
George Imirie goes to lengths on purchasing the best bees available. He recommends well bred docile Italian queens for the beginner beekeeper.
Think Like A Bee
This is a TOUGH one! In my opinion, the most important chapter in the 1992 EXTENSIVELY REVISED edition of THE HIVE AND HONEY BEE is Chapter 8, by Dr. Norm Gary and it is all about BEE BEHAVIOR, or as I call it, “thinking like a bee”. Most readers of the 1300+ pages of the …
American Foul Brood
In Fiji, the only way we are allowed to deal with AFB is to burn the bees and the equipment. Just as George Imirie suggests below. – JL Surely, you have heard about the “dreaded” disease of AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. What can you do about it? Thousands of people will tell you to treat with …
There are 10,000 bees per kilo
There are 3500 bees to the pound (10,000 bees per kg. JL). So there are about 219 bees in an ounce. Pretty small, isn’t she!
What exactly is honey?
A beekeeper should be able to explain this in great detail to all listeners, in spite of the science involved. Here goes: If you are a NON scientist, the word SUGAR means that white stuff in the bowl that you put in your coffee. Table sugar is the polysaccharide, SUCROSE. When you eat sugar, your …
Almost nobody understands the presence of a Nectar Flow
Nectar is the “stuff’ that is made into honey.
Feeding your new bees
George talks about feeding new hives sugar syrup to encourage comb building. JL- This is a practice usually frowned upon in Fiji for the risk of contaminating honey.
Forget Honey!
Everybody is talking about sampling some of their bees honey, and can hardly wait. Forget honey! Your job with your bees during the entire first year is to aid them to “build their house tight and strong, and protect them from being killed by mites or disease!” JL – I’ll add to this: Your job …
What Is The Best Smoker Fuel?
Many of us think pine needles are the NUMBER ONE smoker fuel of all fuels. It is very easy to light, stays lit, and makes dense COOL, white smoke. ever work bees without a lit smoker.