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 […]
No Manicured Lawns for Honeybees!
No Manicured Lawns for Honeybees! At ForestBeehive apiary in Central Maine we are right next to a large wildlife sanctuary and we have no pesticides for miles. Instead of a standard manicured lawn, we have here quite a bit of wild clover. Maintaining standard lawns requires considerable time, money, extensive watering, and the use of […]
Sneaky soybeans, honeybees and mislabeled honey
Sneaky Soybeans, Honeybees & Mislabeled Honey Sneaky Soybeans, Honeybees & Mislabeled Honey Since 1960s Soybean production worldwide has increased 13 times over, and now in the US alone over 90 million acres are dedicated just to soybeans. Honeybees are not commonly spotted foraging on flowering soybeans. However, during a 4-weeks’-long blooming season, under a thick […]
Pandemic in managed bee colonies. Honey factories & what’s in the honey.
Pandemic in managed bee colonies and honey factories Honeybee pandemic, honey factories, what’s in the honey? Typical conventional high honey-yield apiaries are mostly located on the edge of conventional farm fields where the bees would forage and where the crops are grown with the help of the following human-engineered argo-chemicals: Herbicides (to kill weeds), Insecticides […]
Working with Horizontal Layens Hives
Working with Horizontal Layens Hives Feral Hive in a Natural Tree Hollow Layens horizontal hives were designed to imitate how the feral bee colonies live in natural tree hollows. Layens horizontal hives with deep 16″ frames have been in continuous use since the 19th century, as they are easy to manage with minimal disturbances to […]
Vertical and Horizontal Beehives & Math of Overwintering. Honey Bee Clusters, Shapes & Frame Design
Vertical & Horizontal Beehives and Math for Overwintering. Cluster Shapes & Frame Designs The above video discusses the following: The shape of a bee cluster varies depending on the depth of the frame. In conventional Langstroth vertical hives, due to a relatively shallow (just 9″ deep individual frame) the bee cluster tends to take a […]