Dad's Hive On Christmas Eve 45 degs in New Kent

Visiting the parents for Christmas and added some Fondant Patties and removed some feeders (should have been done a while ago). After that the temps got up some into the mid forties. Bee flight was excellant in all 4 hives 3 in triple mediums and 1 in a deep and medium.

Incase your wondering and to avoid confusion, those boardman feeders are EMPTY, i only kept them there to reduce the entrance some... The bees cant evaporate the water in the winter and you shouldnt be feeding sugar water in the winter IMO. This is what the Fondant is for...

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Future Buffalo Bee Farm Beekeepers

My Twin 2 year old girls (Today is their Birthday...)

Your notice my Bee Equipment Assembly room is actually my Dinning Room!!! What a Great Wife!!

Karalyn Belle and Madalyn Grace 

Dead Bees In December

Here is a hive i have which is typical of the dead bees during "No Fly Days" in all it seems consistant around my 18 hives that i have a cup full of dead bees on the bottom boards and in front, so in all about 300-400 dead bees. I remember this same "look" this time last year so i am not worried.

What i did notice is the hives that had the Zia Queens, Bobby Oakes Queens, and Mike Carney Queens had little or no dead bees!!! These however are a little more on the Hygenic Carnolian side and less of Italian stock like the other hives i have. So maybe this is the difference??? Something to think about. Liek i said i am not worried i saw this last year and i had 100% overwinter! So i will keep my fingers crossed. If we had warm days you possibly wouldnt notice the dead bees b/c the workers would have removed them hiding this death toll from you.

Marshmallow Sugar Patties Fondant

Well, i did it. I made 18 sugar patties via the recipe below on the previous post. It turned out excellent and easy. I was very pleased.

Mashmallow Fondant

This is the Fondant that Tommy Nelson made for us last night, needless to say I was VERY impressed with the results. Here is his Blog,  http://aspenhoneybees.blogspot.com/

·         1 lb of small marshmallows

·         2 lbs of powdered sugar

·         4 table spoons of water (or maybe 3 tbs of water and 1 tbs of Honey Bee Healthy)

·         A little Crisco

1.       Grease a large bowl and a wooden spoon with Crisco to keep the mix from sticking

2.       Add 1lb of marshmallows in a large bowl

3.   Add 2 lbs of powdered sugar in a separate bowl for easy pouring later

4.       Heat the marshmallows for 1 min 30 seconds in the microwave.

5.    Add 4 tbs of water to the melted marshmallows

6.       Knead the marshmallows into a ball in the bowl with the wooden spoon while mixin in the powdered sugar.

7.       Grease an area/table with Crisco to keep the mixture from sticking

8.   Grease your hands with Crisco

9.       Knead the ball on the table with your hands when the mix starts to cling to the side of the bowl
10.    Roll the finished ball on wax paper and cut to size (about the size of a pollen patty)

             11.     Place on the top bars of your hives

Cost = About $4

Time = About 10 minutes for about 4 hives…

12-5-2010 Snow Pictures of Garden Hive

Here is a picture of the garden hive below freezing Sunday Morning with all the snow. I was very pleased at the beemax tops i am using as the snow took almost all day to melt even though they were in full sun... I highly recommend spending the money on them. I know i will be.

Saturday 12/4/2010 28 deg F. Main Hive Location

Here are the three hives in my main hive area. as you can see ZERO moisture issues, but at the same time i have not seen issues in these yet either.

A few other interest of mine Hogs and Meat Rabbits