From The Honey Company Workshop, watch Stan Moulton as he builds a deep hive body or super box for his beehive. This video is great for woodworkers and beekeepers. To learn more about honeybees and beekeeping, visit thehoneycompany.com. The Flipper Jig is by Carl Korschgen, 573-819-8516.
We are very excited to share this bee-friendly garden design that Margot from Quiet Poppy Designs created for us! You can find her on Instagram @quietpoppydesigns. She is a talented landscape designer out of Provo, Utah and recently stayed in our guest cabin with her boys. We had a fabulous weekend, sharing bees, horses, farm […]
Every year in late winter, we make management decisions about selling bees in the spring. We decide between selling splits (nucs) from our own bees, buying bees from California to resell (packages), etc. We decide based on on bee health, availability, the weather, and more. We want to get the best quality honeybees to our […]
As beekeepers inspect their hives this summer, every 7-10 days, here are some essential questions to ask every time they look in the hive. Question 1. How is my queen? This is a critical question for every beekeeper. Hives need a strong queen to calm the other bees, and increase their workforce in order to […]
We have been getting question about the Flow Hive for some time now, and I wanted to share my opinion/ observations about them. My opinion about flow hives: I think Flow Hives are really cool. They are stunning to watch and really amazing engineering. We have a couple and think they are fun. They are […]
Purchase 2020 Hive Nucleus Colonies HERE. theferalbeeproject.com info@thehoneycompany.com
This is a photo of our yard this morning, Tuesday. Package pickups were Saturday. Beekeepers are all concerned about managing bees in winter weather. Here is a quick update about managing package bees in the snow. (Nuc customers, watch for pickup information coming soon!) In cold weather, bees cluster together to stay warm. They consume […]
Managing Packages in Cold Weather The Honey Company Saturday is forecasted to be sunny, but we’ve seen some heavy winter weather this week. Here is some information about how to manage your bees in the cold. Installing packages in cold weather can be an advantage because bees are less likely to fly away […]
Question: Due to wholesalers having large minimum orders, I’m struggling to find a cheap source of timber. I’m considering driving to all the local salvage yards, to see what scrap wood I can find to make supers out of. I however struggle to identify which woods are suitable to build hives out of. Are there […]
Above photo credit to Val Wright Q: I purchased a screened bottom board last year to help with a mite count, but I never got around to putting it in my hive. Recently I have been reading several posts on how beneficial it is to use in the hot summer months for additional air circulation. I […]
We often have questions about colonies with laying workers, especially about requeening them. Often, beekeepers end up wasting the queen (and their money) when colonies think their laying workers are good enough. This video describes a method to slowly introduce the queen using a push-in cage. Here’s how you can make your own homemade push-in […]
What a great spring! This year we brought in 770 packages of bees and are excited to see your beekeeping successes! In the packages, we guarantee that the queen bee will be alive and healthy when customers take them home. But there are some rare customer error problems that can happen with the queen. Hopefully knowing about […]
As beekeepers, we often carry around a hot canister of live coals, otherwise known as a bee smoker. We use a bee smoker regularly in our operation. Here are a few tips on getting the best use of the smoker and smoker fuel without causing a grass fire. Once, at a bee pickup, a customer […]
We have received multiple questions about queenless hives lately. When this happens, we usually need to know the following. These are also questions beekeepers can ask themselves each time they inspect the hive to keep it thriving. Do you see eggs, larvae, or pupae of all ages? Do you know how to recognize eggs and larvae? […]
Photo credit for the above photo goes to Valerie Wright! Thanks for sharing this with us! Over the past 5 years, we have switched our operation to foundationless beekeeping. This decision came gradually, but matches our natural beekeeping philosophies. This post will talk about our deciding factors. Work by Michael Bush has influenced our decision […]
We received a great question and beautiful photos from Rachelle (below) and Valerie (above). The comb in Rachelle’s hive has dark wax with a thin layer of white on top. She was wondering what the white layer is and if it is cause for concern. Answer: This white coating is called “Plum Bloom.” The bloom is […]
Lately we have been receiving several questions about dead hives. If your hive did not make it, we are sad. It is always a bummer when bees die! We are working tirelessly to find ways to keep bees healthier, but the beekeeping industry is not on top of bee diseases. . . yet! While we can’t […]
We have had many questions over the years about medicating bees, most recently today. In the spirit of helpfulness, we’d like to post about using Tylan for American Foulbrood (according to the label) for those who decide to use it. Remember that the label is the law and using Tylan outside of the labeled uses is […]
We are super excited about these little beauties! These up-cycled, one-of-a-kind bee boxes make beautiful furniture! They are fitted to be fully functional bee boxes too, holding deep or medium frames. Here’s a little insight into the process of making and photographing them. Legs We found many of the legs at the Habitat for Humanity’s […]
We have been corresponding with Dr. Burnett about Foulbrood and wanted to post what she said about it, especially with the current proposed honeybee bill in the Utah House of Representatives. Here are two emails. The first is one I sent to her with some questions and the second is her response. She gave permission for […]