BlueRidgeBee

Honey Harvest 2024  

  Installing honey bee packages is an essential step in beekeeping for those who want to start their own hive or expand an existing one. Honey bee packages are usually sold by bee suppliers, and they contain a queen bee, a certain number of worker bees, and some food to sustain the bees during transportation. In this blog, we will provide a step-by-step guide on how to install honey bee packages, including some tips to ensure a successful installation. Step 1: Prepare the hive Before you install the honey bee package, you need to make sure that your hive is ready. The hive should be clean, free of debris and pests, and have frames with foundation or drawn comb. You can also add a feeder filled with sugar syrup to provide extra food for the bees. Step 2: Choose the installation location Choose a location for the hive that is sheltered from the wind and receives sunlight for at least six hours a day. The hive should also be placed in an area with good drainage, so the bee...

  As you can see from my posts, being a Beekeeper has lots of trouble and heartache. There are times of great joy as well. These times come in the form of harvesting honey. I have gotten fairly adept at harvesting honey from my hives. It can be very messy and lots of work but the end result is liquid gold 😊 I recently harvested honey from my one remaining hive. See the previous post about how I got 20lbs of honey from the hive that swarmed. I don't sell honey, right now anyway, so this is just for my wife and I and our family and friends. I will try to detail the process I go through to extract honey on this post. Many people take their supers in to a local bee supply store and pay to have them extract the honey, but I prefer to do it on my own. First we get suited up and get all our equipment ready for extracting honey. As you see we load the wheelbarrow with a container, smoker, brush and blower. Sometimes I get the bees off a frame at a time and put them in a container, or some...