Beekeeping or Bee Hosting? Bees & Forest B&B
Beekeeping or Bee Hosting? Bees & Forest B&B Welcome to another update from my ForestBeehive apiary—this time from a newly relocated horizontal Layens hive now nestled in the heart of EarthSong Wildlife Protection Area in Somerville, Maine. Surrounded by almost 600 acres of wild meadows and untouched habitat, this is ideal natural forage country for […]
Horizontal hives, Layens vs. Langstroth frames, wintering clusters
Perfectly circular brood pattern – Layens frame I host USDA Russian honey bees (aka RHBA pure russians) in double-walled insulated horizontal Layens hives – either with peaked roofs or with telescopic roofs. The video shows how 16” deep Layens frames allow honey bees to lay perfectly round brood pattern while conventional shallower Langstroth frames would […]
Water, Minerals and the taste of Honey – Duplicate – [#6188] – Duplicate – [#6258]
Water, Minerals & the Taste of Honey You probably already knew that the honey bees collect not just nectar but water as well. But did you know that the quality of the bees’ primary water source directly affects the quality and taste of their honey? The honeybees that collect clean water and unpolluted natural nectar […]
If Beekeeping=Agriculture, shoud you treat Bees like Cattle??
If Beekeeping=Agriculture, should Bees be treated like Cattle?? Rev. Langstroth, who in 1850s invented conventional vertical multi-box beehive, was a congregational minister who advocated for a “dominion of man over bees”. Langstroth shared the prevailing philosophy of the 1800s, that Man’s mission was to control, dominate and subjugate nature rather than live in harmony with […]
100% Naturally Foraged Honey vs Conventional Honey. Taste & Health Benefits
100% Natually Foraged Honey vs Conventional Honey. Taste & Benefits This Maine wilderness honey came mostly from woodland asters and silver rods that bloom in abundance in the fall in our remote woodlands of Maine. At our ForestBeehive apiary, we are far removed from agricultural and agricultural & industrial pollution, and our bees are […]
Wintering USDA Russian bees in Maine
Wintering Russian Bees in Maine In this video you’ll see how I help my USDA Russian bees overwinter in Maine. In neighboring Vermont, Kirk Webster, a long-time commercial treatment-free beekeeper also keeps Russian bees for the last 20 years. Kirk Webster says that the Russian Bees are still “the best primary source of breeding stock […]
Honey as nature intended – no meds, no sugar. Spinner and honey press
Honey as nature intended – no meds or sugar for the bees In the video, the honey frames collected at the previous stage of the harvest are uncapped and harvested using both the spinner and the honey press. For me beekeeping and honey harvesting is primarily a labor of love rather than purely a matter […]
Fall harvest of Maine Wilderness surplus honey * USDA Russian bees * Treatment-free/sugar-free
Fall harvest of surplus honey – USDA Russian bees in Maine In this video, you’ll see the fall harvest of surplus honey from USDA Russian bees (RHBA – Primorsky Russia’s Far East honeybees). Russian bees are a strain of European dark bee Apis mellifera mellifera and they have spent over 100 years in close proximity […]
USDA Russians vs. Italian Bees, Horizontal Hives and Funny Honey
Russian Bees vs. Italian Bees Comparison of USDA certified Russian bees and bees with Italian genetics in terms of winter survival in US North East without supplemental sugar feedings. “To feed or not to feed”, that is the question. Summer space management of horizontal Layens hive and what makes funny honey.
USDA Pure Russian Bees
Russian Bees are Coming! The beautiful new peaked roof Layens beehive is from Paul Maida, a fellow treatment-free beekeeper from neighboring New Hampshire. The hive’s detachable peaked-roof opens and closes smoothly and is a joy to work with. Unfortunately, several of my bee colonies with Italian genetics did not survive this past winter in […]