Swarm time in the Farmville, VA area

Late afternoon; the attempt here was to shake the bees into a metal funnel attached to 3" #20 drain lines. the swarm was housed in a nuc where it did not stick. Should have tried a 10 frame hive box.

Meherin, VA Cut Out; March 31, 2015

Owner plans to restore this old country home

Bees have been removed from this area before

That is me pin pointing the colony behind the sheetrock panel. My pal, Harry is agreeing.

Harry starts the vacuum

Swarm; early evening

Yes, that is the moon watching

We used the vacuum system to gather this swarm all from a climb to a lower limb

New Solar Wax Melter for 2015

Bad storm took out my old wax melter

New model with black auto primer



First coat of oil base gloss black paint



Thick walls are filled with batten insulation

PVC pipe is used for legs with caps

Candy Boards; winter 2015

20 lbs of sugar with Mega Bee

March 2015

First of April 2015

Brood Factory 2015

I read an article last fall about a beekeeper in the New England area that talked about having a box he called a "Brood Factory". I have just built what I interrupted as his description of the Brood Factory.

4 frame deep nucs

The bottom boxes are joined to serve as the base

Screened bottom board with entrances at opposite ends

Primed and ready for color

Complete set up. Tops will have syrup jar holes

Upper boxes have 1/2 inch holes for easy access. Plugs will be used to close.

Winter Cold

We are expecting single digit temps tonight. Since we are not in the northern states, we do not tend to wrap our hives for winter, I figured I would make good use of extra furniture moving pads for a few nights.