Author Archives: Dave Strickler
Sandy Sandy
So the first New England hurricane that my hive has to survive is named “Sandy”, and that’s also the name of the hive itself. Oh the irony… Hopefully, though some cosmic connection, they will decide not to fight this one out. With 24 hours until the storm is expected to hit, I drove down to … Continue reading
Candy must be dandy
It’s hard for me to believe, but in two weeks of weather that was only in the 60’s(F) most days, the ladies chowed through almost a half a tray of the candy I made them. Now, I’ve been known to eat my fair share at the table, sometimes with obvious consequences, but this… no, this … Continue reading
No mice in the house
Now that the fall is upon us, the threat of mice in the hive is a real one. Each fall, as the days grow colder and food is a little harder to find, some field mice decide it’s worth checking out a bee hive. The trick of course, from a mouse’s perspective, is venturing into … Continue reading
Beekeeping laws
Where I have my bees, there are no strict laws about beekeeping. It’s more of a suburban/beach environment than anything else, so it would be pretty rare that my bees could irritate anyone who wasn’t walking on my property. This isn’t by accident – I’ve carefully placed my hive so as to have as little … Continue reading
Sitting in their food
When I was 14, I entered into a pizza eating contest. The local pizza join promised a hundred dollars and a free pizza if you could eat one of theirs in one sitting. Being a Sicilian pizza, it took up the entire top of the tiny table I was sitting at. At one point, with … Continue reading
Mixing up some unheated candy
I’m certainly not a cook, and I barely dabble in baking, but today I made the ladies a pie. Not your traditional human pie of course, but a mixture of: * 9 pounds of sugar (a 4 lb and a 5 lb bag) * 2 cups of water * 1 cup of MegaBee protein supplement … Continue reading
The Fall is upon us
One of the things being a beekeepers changes in you is having an acute sense of the weather and seasons. I suppose a gardener or farmer has this as well, but if it’s cold, and the environment isn’t right, my “livestock” will die. All at once. Nadda. It’s getting into the 50’s at night, and … Continue reading
My first attempt at making candy
Bee candy that is… The process, which seems easy, is trickier than it looks. Get a whole lot of sugar, a little water and slowly heat over a stove. Bring it to about 234F, and pour it into a mold. Let it cool in the mold to room temperature, and pull it out of the mold. … Continue reading
The bees don’t know it’s September
Although the summer is officially over, the bees are very active, possibly more active around the entrance than I have ever seen them. This is good, as the last few days have had bad flying weather, and their foraging has fallen off because of it. I’ve decided to inspect them as little as possible from … Continue reading
5th Inspection
I ventured inside the hive today, and was in for a minor disappointment. While the hive itself is rockin’ with the original brood box chock-full-o’-bees/honey/brood, the lower medium super has barely any comb drawn out – perhaps only 1/8 of a single frame after two weeks. So as we are about to enter the Fall, … Continue reading