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 […]
Bees in Winter: Are They Dead or Alive?!
Honey bees in Winter: Dead or Alive?! In the middle of cold and snowy winter, how would a beekeeper know if the bee colonies are alive and well inside the beehives? It would be wrong to open the top lid and take a peek – it’s too cold and it could kill a healthy bee […]
Bees, Christmas and Gifts of Nature
Bees, Christmas and Gifts of Nature. Moving Beehives. It’s below freezing and the first layer of ice started to form along the shores of our secluded forest lake. Our beehives are winter-ready. Raw wool insulation is both inside the double-walls and directly around the bee nest. I harvest once a year in the Fall and […]
2023 Fall Honey Harvest — Maine Wilderness Honey
2023 Fall Harvest – Maine Wilderness Honey In the Fall, the hunting season in Maine is in full swing and in the video my dog is wearing a reflective orange vest, so that the hunters don’t accidentally shoot at him. The Fall is also a perfect season to harvest honey while simultaneously prepping the beehives […]
Honey Factories vs Benevolent Beekeeping & Natural Foraging
Honey Factories vs Benevolent Beekeeping & Natural Foraging ForestBeehive apiary in Central Maine is right next to a 3,000 acre wildlife protection area and our honeybees have plenty of natural, pesticide-free all-year foraging from trees (maples, willows, alders, etc.) and many different wildflowers — from Springtime dandelions to asters and goldenrods in the Fall. Many […]
Pollen allergies? Local honey to the rescue!
Pollen allergies? Local honey to the rescue! Pollen allergy? Local honey to the rescue! In the above video, the honeybee is from our ForestBeehive apiary in Central Maine. She is collecting pollen from common ragweed – a wildflower abundant in North America. Although ragweed pollen is responsible for human allergies, for honeybees it’s a major […]