Recent content by beekny

Interesting conversation. I know very little about the science of immunity and allergic reactions to stings. I do know that years ago, after a conversation with a person with multiple sclerosis who wanted bees for venom therapy and her testimony that in her experience it helped not only with...

Thank you for your kind and gracious comment.

It always worked reliably, but not perfectly. Occasionally I would move a hive, and find it seemed the population dwindled as a result. If it was low enough to need correction, I would shake some bees into my homemade bee vacuum box ( which has a screened bottom), put it on the hive a few days...

Not all Italian, Quite a mixed lot. The original hive was from a cut out that had lived in the wall of an empty house for several years, The few queens I purchased over the years wear a mix of Carnies and Italians, with a preference for Carnies as they were a bit more frugal with stores over...

I've had 12-15 hives for years, all in a row, and never had a problem with drifting. Each hive is intentionally different, with a swipe of contrasting paint on the face of it in a place or angle different to it's neighbors. The bees orient well enough that drifting is not an issue.

I've moved hives much shorter than 3 miles but much farther than 3 meter in the past, losing very few bees. I have moved a hive 70 meters from a neighbor's garden to mine, where the original hive location was easily seen several times a day. I closed and moved the hive as twilight began and...