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Monday 18 June 2012

Bee Supers For Super Bees

All work and no play makes Karen a dull blogger ...but some things in life just can't wait. Mother Nature is one of those things.
The blueberry blossoms are winding down and the plants are beginning to set fruit.
The bees have done a stellar job with their pollination chore and the colonies have increased exponentially from the goodness they extracted from those blossoms. The hives are filled with bees. It`s time to add honey supers (boxes) to the top of their colonies so they can begin storing their sweet food.
Before the honey boxes go on, a queen excluder is added to the top of the hive. It is a metal (or plastic) mesh with openings through which the worker bees can squeeze but are too small for the large-bodied queen. This prevents the queen from laying eggs in the honey frames; she stays down below and raises brood in the main part of the hive. These are metal excluders; the dribble down the front is just a bit of wax left from last season.



The bees will be on the move again very shortly, as the cranberry blossoms are almost ready.

4 comments:

  1. Oh how I wished I was closer to you. I'd love to learn more about beekeeping, but I can't convince my DH. If we were about 20 years younger, I'd do it without his help. I love honey.

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  2. So that's what blueberries look like when growing - I've never seen them! What a lovely fruity honey those blossoms must make.

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  3. When the blueberry fruit is setting, summer is really upon us. Just a couple of more days unti we have our longet day. i wonder if the bees know?

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