bees

got hive painted and waiting for bees to arrive

Neonicotinoid pesticides 'damage brains of bees'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21958547

Three hive stand done

The hive stand looks great and has room for a 3rd hive in the middle.  It is 8 feet long and 20 inches wide it looks big enough to hold 3 hives and still have room to put stuff down like a smoker.  I'm still working on where to put it.  I'm thinking next to the garden.  That way it will be close.  There are other good spots but they are further away from the house.

Hammer time...

The area where we plan to keep our bees is known to have black bears.  The instructor for the class we attended last Saturday recommended installing an electric fence to keep out Yogi and his friends.  We ordered up a solar powered electric fencer. 

For your reading pleasure, here is how the lyrics are going to go as the bear hits it:
Can't touch this (x2)
Can't touch this (oh-oh oh oh oh-oh-oh) (x2)

My-my-my-my fencer hits me so hard makes me say oh my Lord
Thank you for blessing me with a mind to rhyme and two hyped feet
It feels good when you know you're down
A superdope homeboy from the Hinckley town
And I'm known as such
And this is a fence uh u can't touch

I told you homeboy u can't touch this
Yeah that's how we're livin' and you know u can't touch this
Look in my eyes man u can't touch this
You know let me bust the funky lyrics u can't touch this

Fresh new deeps and supers
You got it like that now you know you wanna dance
So move out of your seat
And get a fly girl and catch this beat
While it's rollin' hold on pump a little bit
And let me know it's going on like that like that
Cold on a mission so pull on back
Let 'em know that you're too much
And this is a fence uh u can't touch

Yo I told you u can't touch this
Why you standing there man u can't touch this
Yo sound the bells school is in sucker u can't touch this

Give me a worker or queen
Making 'em sweat that's what I'm giving 'em
Now they know when you talk about the Hammer
You talk about a show that's hyped and tight
Singers are sweatin' so pass them a mic
Or a tape to learn what it's gonna take
And now he's gonna burn
The charts legit either work hard
Or you might as well quit

That's word because you know
U can't touch this (oh-oh oh oh-oh-oh) (x2)
Break it down
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh oh-oh) (x4)
Stop Hammer time

Go with the flow in a spin if you can't move to this
Then you probably are dead
So wave your hands in the air
Bust throught the moves run your fingers through your hair
This is it for a winner
Dance to this and you're gonna get thinner
Move slide your rump
Just for a minute let's all do the bump
Bump bump bump yeah

U can't touch this
Look man u can't touch this
You'll probably get hyped boy
'Cause you know you can't u can't touch this
Ring the bell school's back in break it down
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) (x4)
Stop Hammer time
(Oh-oh oh oh oh-oh-oh) (x2)
(Oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh)
(Oh-oh oh oh oh-oh-oh) u can't touch this (x3)
(Oh-oh oh oh oh-oh-oh) break it down
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) (x2)
Stop Hammer time

Every time you see me that Hammer's just so hype
I'm dope on the floor and I'm magic on the mic
Now why would I ever stop doing this
With others makin' records that just don't hit
I toured around the world from London to the BAY
It's Hammer go Hammer
mc hammer yo hammer and the rest can go and play

U can't touch this (oh-oh oh oh oh-oh-oh) (x2)
U can't touch this (oh-oh oh-oh-oh)
Yeah u can't touch this
I told you u can't touch this (oh-oh oh-oh-oh)
Too hype can't touch this
Get me outta here u can't touch this
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

Can you feel the excitement after reading those lyrics.  Here is the fencer we went with:

Shocking isn't it?  Possibly en-lightning for the bear?  Ok, I'll stop now.   What could possibly go wrong?

Hive Assembly

We completed the assembly of 2 deeps and 2 supers.  Time to let the glue cure and maybe later build the other set.  A couple of pictures for your enjoyment:

 

Beekeeping Basics - Three Rivers Park District

We attended the first of two workshops of the Beekeeping Basics class held at Gale Woods Farm on Saturday, March 2nd.  The class was taught by Dan Palmer and was held by the Three Rivers Park District.  The class ran from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and we came away with some good information about beekeeping.   Here is a picture of Zander handing back a nearly filled honey super frame back to the instructor. 

Zander with an almost filled honey super frame

The first half of the class was done lecture style and the second half was a hands on workshop where we had the opportunity to build 3 deep hives (pre-cut from Nature's Nectar/Mann Lake LTD).   The timing was perfect for this lesson as Zander is planning to build his un-assembled hive bodies on Sunday (today).  We learned that when assembling the hives you don't need to use much glue because it expands and will naturally fill the gaps.  In addition we found out that it is advised to spray the wood with water first to allow the glue to soak and adhere better.

The instructor brought in one of his complete hives (3 deeps + several supers) from last year that didn't make it through the winter.  By looking at the hives we guessed that the colony had lost it's queen and had tried to produce another one to replace it but were unsuccessful and without the queen the colony died off.  

Here were some additional take-aways from the class:

• Queen cells tend to be located near the bottom of the frames.  They should be knocked off when you/if you find them provided your queen is doing well.
• There is some debate about whether you should use 2 or 3 deeps when raising bees in Minnesota.  The 3rd deep will give the bees additional food stores and potentially help them weather the harsh Minnesota winters.
• You can paint the insides of the hives in linseed oil to help preserve the wood.  Zander is planning to just leave them unfinished.
• If you have some beeswax left over from previous seasons, you can melt a little beeswax over new frames and paint in on them to give the bees a head start. 
• Zander is planning on placing one of the hives in the Hinckley, MN area and the instructor highly recommended using an electric fence to keep bears out of the apiary.  So it looks like we are going to be spending some more money on a fence.