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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]