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Category: Beekeeping
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How to make beeswax lip balm
I love beeswax lip balm! For me, the following recipe is the perfect texture, and I love how it lingers and moisturizes long after applying. It’s soft, but not too soft. It’s not too oily, either. It’s just right. I use it on my cracked, winter hands and Stan used it today to lubricate a…
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Attract Honeybees with this Expert Garden Plan
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…
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What You Need To Know About Nuc Pickups
We want to set you up for success. Before taking the nuc home, we want you to see inside the hive and make sure the colony is thriving, the queen is laying eggs, and see the temperament your bees. It can also give new beekeepers confidence to inspect their colony for the first time with…
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Nuc Transfer Instructions
This post is geared to those who will be picking up nucs and want to read up ahead of time. Click Here for a post about what to bring to the pickup. Nuc Transfer Instructions Start your smoker. Find and mark the nuc you would like. Move the nuc box over a few feet and…
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All About Bees for Kids
In January, we hosted a unit study about honeybees at our home. It was really fun! There were about 50 people here, swarming around the stations. I’ve been working on a honeybee curriculum called “All About Bees for Kids” and thought this blog is a good venue to share it! At the bottom of the…
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Beelining
Stan has been tinkering with his Beelining box again today. It’s pretty cool. For those who don’t know, Beelining is a method to find feral honeybee colonies. You catch some bees in a specialized “beelining box,” then fill their tummy (honey sac) with sugar water. This makes them want to fly back to their colony…
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Moving Bees at the turn of the Century
We’ve been studying C.C. Miller’s book Fifty Years Among the Bees and came across some photos of how people moved bees by hand or with horses. If there ever is some sort of apocalypse and we need to live without electricity and gasoline, beekeeping is still doable! The prepper in me thinks this awesome! I wonder…
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The case for a ‘local first’ mentality
The case for a ‘local first’ mentality. The article below was copied and pasted from KSL.com. Here is the URL link. http://www.ksl.com/?sid=21721728. Who needs more reasons to buy local? I guess we all do. This article talks about purchasing at a local store 1 out of 10 shopping trips. If you are considering buying bees,…
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Should I get a 2- or 3-pound package?
First of all, if you are a brand new beekeeper, please consider purchasing a nuc. See Lesson 1: Nucs and Packages. You will have more success with a nuc. Promise. Then next year, when you are addicted to bees, get some packages. If you have decided on packages (find our more about packages here), you…
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What’s happening to our honey bees?
This article is from my days working for USU Extension. Thought it was appropriate to share here. What’s happening to our honey bees? By Alicia Moulton Honey bees are on the decline throughout the world. Here’s why. Honey bee Colony Collapse Disorder is a complex matter with many contributing factors that have compounded over…
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Why we use deep boxes exclusively
We only use and sell deep boxes. This is a management preference. All beekeepers do things a bit differently and this is our favorite way. We think our way is more efficient because we don’t have to store several sizes of boxes and frames. (And we’ve had 25 years plus 4 generations of experimentation. Trust…
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Bees on the front entrance of the hive
Often in hot summer weather, bees gather around the entrance porch of their hive to cool off. This is normal. It would also be normal to see 2-3 times as many bees as this. When this photo was taken, it was more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit in early evening. Bees pictured are calm and walking…
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Bee Art
Can I brag a little about my man here? I am in LOVE with his bee art! He takes plastic foundation, cuts it into different shapes, and puts it in the beehive. Here are the results. What do you think? He got the idea from his beekeeping grandpa, Arthur Andersen, who did a profile of…
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Beekeeping License
Photo from Grandpa Arthur Andersen’s collection in the 1970’s. In the State of Utah, beekeepers need a beekeeping license through the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food in Salt Lake City. They keep a record of all beekeeping licenses online, including name, license number, city, county, application and renewal dates, and whether it is active…
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Rethinking Dandelions
Dandelions It’s time to revisit what we think of this cheerful springtime flower! Historically, dandelions have been used medicinally and as a food source. Remember the stories about Utah pioneers finding and consuming them gratefully? Have you had a fancy salad with dandelion greens? Yum! These days, dandelions are often thought of as weeds, which…
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How to Test for Hygienic Behavior
How to test for hygienic behavior This method is taken from “A sustainable approach to controlling honey bee diseases and varroa mites” Available http://www.sare.org/publications/factsheet/0305.htm May 20, 2008. Materials 3 in. cylinder (PVC pipe) 10-15 oz liquid nitrogen (easily obtained from welding supplier) Liquid nitrogen tank Frame with more than 3 inches diameter sealed brood(Fewer than 30…