Emmett Royal Honey is located in Emmett, Idaho, and provides local honey and bee products/services. Emmett Royal Honey is apiculture located in Emmett, Idaho.
We sell raw honey, locally built beehives, beekeeping services, classes, tours, and bees & queens. All our apiaries are located in Emmett, Idaho, or within 10 miles. Our primary focus is as bee researchers, queen breeders, honey producers, and building community awareness. Honey bees are seeing mass deaths every year. About 30% of managed colonies die every year; this has to be mitigated by splitt
We sell raw honey, locally built beehives, beekeeping services, classes, tours, and bees & queens. All our apiaries are located in Emmett, Idaho, or within 10 miles. Our primary focus is as bee researchers, queen breeders, honey producers, and building community awareness. Honey bees are seeing mass deaths every year. About 30% of managed colonies die every year; this has to be mitigated by splitt
Operating as usual
2023 preorders are now open. We are accepting preorders for NUCS and Hive Equipment. Queens will not open for preorder but will be first come, first serve to start in May 2023.
Call for more details - at 208-369-1385 or check out our website at emmettroyalhoney.com
Thanks!
Many beekeepers confuse orientation flights with swarming or absconding. In this case, this is absconding, but it's similar to swarming - a large group of honey bees leaving the hive. Orientation flights can be a large portion of bees near the entrance normal many of them doing figure eight flights but some can be flying near the hive, as this is a tremendous amount of bees flying around the hive in almost all directions - almost like a honey bee tornado đ.
There has been some information floating around on the internet expressing that CCD is directly linked to EMF radiation. Unfortunately, with many of these claims, there is little to no supporting research to share. As we stand there is NO direct link between CCD to EMF radiation. There are some behavioral issues that arise from EMF radiation on Honey bees - but in the research articles - there was no direct correlation found.
Here are the research papers on the subject: Exposure to cell phone radiations produces biochemical changes in worker honey bees ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3052591/ ), Effect of electromagnetic radiation of cell phone
tower on foraging behaviour of Asiatic honey bee,
Apis cerana F. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) (https://zero5g.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/5-3-142-590.pdf ), Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in Honey BeesCaused by EMF Radiation( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6563664/ ) (the title is misleading - the results in the study were not conclusive), Effect of electromagnetic radiations on brooding, honey
production and foraging behavior of European
honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) ( https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJAR/article-full-text-pdf/DEBAE7B47051 ). The study that is supporting this claim is found here:https://www.internationalscholarsjournals.com/articles/impact-of-mobile-phones-on-the-density-of-honeybees.pdf - I would say the quality of the study is low - and the researcher is reaching for a biased conclusion. The study was done on a sample population of 6, where 3 were the control and 3 were the treated - the supporting documentation is low.
I am not saying that it's not possible that EMF is linked to CCD, or even that EMF radiation has no effect on honey bees (or humans) as the research shown does show some behavior and even biological changes, but there is no scientific evidence that directly links CCD to EMF radiation conclusively.
The present study was carried out to find the effect of cell phone radiations on various biomolecules in the adult workers of Apis mellifera L. The results of the treated adults were analyzed and compared with the control. Radiation from the cell phone ...
The colder weather and lack of drones signal the winterization of our beehives. In this video, we share a few tips on how to winterize your hives successfully.
Here are a few tips on how to successfully winterize your hive in northern areas (well, at least in part of Idaho for sure =)).Here is an article we publishe...
Update:
Hello all, it's been a busy month! Sorry for the delay in posting new videos and research articles. I hope to get back on a weekly basis here shortly. We will be publishing a new education video tomorrow on winter hive preparation. Here are a few things we have been up to.
We finished our two-week live honey bee pollination classes with over 400 participants in class; we conducted some 30 classes over 2 weeks. It was a busy time, and it went very well! We will be doing more of that next year.
We are sold out of honey for the year; we sold out during the field trip. Next year we will have an increased quantity.
We are in the process of submitting a proposal for a SAREâs grant focusing on research for honey bee breeding and Varroa resistant behaviors, and that's consumed a lot of time to prepare for that.
We also are building a woodworking shop to make our honey bee hives here in Emmett, Idaho. We are in the process of redesigning the Langstroth hive to create a beehive that would increase the survivability of honey bees using current biological research. We hope to have those up for sale by next year.
Happy Beekeeping!
We did a sample test with 9 queens (using the direct release with smoke method - you can read about how to do it on our website at https://emmettroyalhoney.com/beekeeping-education/queens-how-to-introduce-a-new-mated-queen-to-a-colony/ )
Out of 9 queens, 100% of the hives accepted the new queen - half of them we destroyed any queen cells they were making, and the other half did not destroy the queen cells. In all cases, all queens were accepted.
You have a new queen in a package, or you bought mated in a cage. How do you introduce her to her new colony? Queens need to start laying eggs as soon as possible. We prefer immediate release for all our naturally mated queens and push-in cages for all inseminated queens. Itâs unlikely that a [âŚ...
According to a study conducted studying the average feral colony entrances. 15 square centimeters was found to be the norm. The thin longer side of a typical langstroth entrance reducer is approx 13 square centimeters. this can be used year round as your entrance.
We had a fantastic time at Frozen Dog Fruit Stand for our two-week-long field trip classes. We had over 500 people participate in our classes to learn about honey bee biology and pollination and get to see (and hold in some cases) honey bees. They also got to take home some tasty fruit at the end. It was a blast. We would like to thank all involved, including Frozen Dog Fruit Stand, for contributing to this successful event.
Our introductory live honey bee class with fruit picking at Frozen Dog Fruit Stand is this Saturday, September 3rd; kids are free(with a parent or guardian); call for details. Timeslots available are 1pm and 2pm. These classes are by reservation only, so if you are interested, please contact us before Saturday at 208-369-1385.
We still have some timeslots available for our introductory live honey bee class with fruit picking at Frozen Dog Fruit Stand this Saturday, September 3rd. These classes are by reservation only, so if you are interested, please contact us before Saturday. At 208-369-1385.
We still have openings for September 3rd for our introductory honey bee class with fruit-picking at Frozen Dog Fruit Stand. We will be here Friday and Saturday this week, and Wednesday to Saturday next week feel free to stop by and say hello - the only class availability we still have is on September 3rd; excellent introductory education for families or adults interested in honey bees, the class focuses on the pollination and the importance of honey bees and pollinators - get up and close and see these fantastic creatures; all are really enjoying it. Call or message for details. 208-369-1385
Photos from Frozen Dog Fruit Stand's post
Today's video discusses the biology and process of splitting a honey bee colony. A sustainable apiary understands how to split a hive effectively since losses are a part of beekeeping. In this video, we talk about 3 different methods of splitting and demonstrate one of those methods.
Emmett Royal Honey is a beekeeping company located in Emmett, Idaho where our focus is on honey bee research and queen breeding. We also sell honey bee produ...
How do honey bees select larvae during emergency queen rearing? A study by Al-Kahtani and Bienefeld (2012) observed that the Nasonov glands play a role in this. Workers, after a larvae inspection, would expose their Nasonov glands. They found that a significant concentration of exposed Nasonov glands was observed in cells that later developed into queen cells.
Timeline photos
When Chris is not helping to assist with technical projects on websites, he is doing bee research, and then I assist him :). Here is a little about the business. For more information, go to https://emmettroyalhoney.com/
Emmett Royal Honey is a locally owned and operated family business. The majority of our team has lived in Emmett for most of their lives. This is our home.
Our primary focus is breeding queen bees for increased survivability and research on the honey bee.
Through research and application, our hope is that this leads to quality bees for pollination efforts to naturally resist diseases, pests, and the effects of agricultural chemicals needed to sustain food supplies.
Emmett is known for its orchards and has a long history with agriculture. Honey bee pollination has a considerable part in sustaining these environments and growing crops.
We provide backyard beekeeping services, equipment, classes, and raw honey. Check out our store today.
All our apiaries are located in Emmett, Idaho, or within 10 miles of Emmett.
On Saturday, September 3rd, in the afternoon (call for time slots available 208-369-1385). We will have a live honey bee biology class with fruit picking at Frozen Dog Fruit Stand. The class will be one hour in length, onsite, as we go over honey bees and their role (as well as other pollinators) in our food system, as well as on-site beekeeper training (bee suits will be provided), to see these amazing creatures in action and up close. Each ticket comes with a bag/basket provided to pick fruits available at the orchard at the end of the class.
The class aims to introduce you to honey bees and see how pollination, particularly honey bee pollination, contributes to our food system. At the end of the class, you can pick the fruit pollinated by these incredible creatures (as well as other natural pollinators in the area). Without natural pollination efforts, we would not have the large variety of available food we have today.
On Saturday, September 3rd, in the afternoon (call for time slots available 208-369-1385). We will have a live honey bee biology class with fruit picking at Frozen Dog Fruit Stand. The class will be one hour in length, onsite, as we go over honey bees and their role (as well as other pollinators) in our food system, as well as on-site beekeeper training (bee suits will be provided), to see these amazing creatures in action and up close. Each ticket comes with a bag/basket provided to pick fruits available at the orchard at the end of the class.
The class aims to introduce you to honey bees and see how pollination, particularly honey bee pollination, contributes to our food system. At the end of the class, you can pick the fruit pollinated by these incredible creatures (as well as other natural pollinators in the area). Without natural pollination efforts, we would not have the large variety of available food we have today.
https://youtube.com/shorts/P9cTc-34AcM?feature=share
Here is this clip we took; you can see the queen 'standing still' while workers contact her. According to the research done by Seeley (1979) this is how queens facilitate pheromone dispersal. After this, the worker bees contacting her will quickly move on to other nest mates and contact other workers, and so on and so forth until the whole hive is 'aware' of her pheromone production. Just airborne dispersal, queen to worker contact, or comb contact of her pheromone is not adequate. This behavior is vital for the whole colony to internalize her pheromone.
The retinue consists of up to 12 workers(they are in the video touching the queen); they come in contact with her by using their antennae, forelegs, and/or mouthparts. (Naumann 1991). It takes approximately 30 minutes for the retinue to pass her pheromone to every hive member.
Here is a clip of a queen honey bee with her attendants.
We just wanted to let everyone know, that we are completely sold out of local queens for the rest of the year until the 2023 season. Thanks.
We have our honey harvest happening next week, end-of-year final splits, and a two-week-long field trip classes starting in the 3rd week of August (a lot happening!), so we will not be publishing as many new videos or new articles in the next few weeks. We should be back on track in September.
Today we released an article titled " Understanding Colony Health By Studying The Frame" which goes along nicely with our recent video upload.
The skill of reading a frame is a skill that will benefit all beekeepers. To look at 1 â 3 frames and get a good sense of a colonyâs being is vital. As we have discussed in other articles, you can learn some good information by looking at the hive from the outside, examining the [âŚ]
Understanding how to read a frame and what is says about the health of your honey bees can be a challenging skill to develop. We wanted to provide a few tips in today's video that will hopefully give you more confidence with your future inspections. This is not a complete coverage of the topic but rather an overview. In a future article, we will provide a more comprehensive dive into the subject.
https://youtu.be/RFSNLT3WqWA
Resources are shared with not only honey bees but other native pollinators.
We are releasing a comprehensive disease identification chart that will assist beekeepers from new and advanced with spotting and identifying potential issues within their colonies. This chart was built to be used as an in-the-field online resource that we hope to expand with pictures and more valuable items to make disease identification easier.
This chart aims to provide beekeepers with an easy-to-use reference out in the field when they come across suspected diseases in their hives. We will continue to improve this chart toward that goal. The quicker you, as a beekeeper, can spot and identify potential issues within your hive, the more su...
Today's video is on "How To Find The Queen" this is a skill that needs to be developed by continual practice. But we share a few tips that may assist you as a newer beekeeper.
In this video, we will show a few tips on how to find the queen in your colony. Emmett Royal Honey is a beekeeping company located in Emmett, Idaho where our...
A forager honey bee hard at work on a Milkweed.
We performed an AFB ropiness test and videoed some of it. If you would like to see how this test works, you can refer to this 1-minute video. As a disclaimer, both EFB and AFB can be very gross-looking, especially during the ropiness test, so viewer discretion is advised.
The cells in these videos were most likely EFB - but there was some possible ropiness. In one cell (not in the video) did rope pass an inch (sorry, wish I wo...
Today's article overviews the queen honey bee's role in the colony.
In todayâs article, we will focus our attention on some basic aspects of the queen honey bee. The two major items that separate a queen from other castes (workers and drones) are life span and fertilized egg laying. Queens can live up to 8 years of age but, on average live 2 â 5 years. [âŚ]
Today we release episode 14 about feeding honey bees - what to feed them and how to feed them.
For more information, see our article on understanding feeding ratios. https://emmettroyalhoney.com/beekeeping-education/understanding-sugar-feed-ratios/As a...
We updated our Nectar and Pollen chart with more information on the yield of Nectar and Pollen each plant provides, and we added pictures of each plant to help beekeepers visually identify these plants in their area. We will add to this chart regularly, with the goal of it being used as a reference for beekeepers in the area.
For the South Western Idaho, here is a chart that shows what blooms, when it blooms, and what resource is has for honey bees.
We updated our Varroa destructor article, now including more details on the 4 species of Varroa and the 'subspecies', better understood as haplotypes of the V. destructor. We try and update our past articles as new information comes in.
The Varroa Destructor is one of the main pests today within the honey bee colony. Before getting into updated research on the Varroa mite, let us have a quick overview of the mite. Of the most common domesticated genus Apis (honey bees), there is the Apis cerana, and the Apis mellifera. The Apis mel...
We are entering a period of increased robbing, where resources are low, hives are strong, and scouts are plenty. Today's article discusses this behavior and the options beekeepers can do to ward it off.
Robbing is when honey bee enters a colony that is not their own and takes food by force. Learn more about this behavior.
This is the time of year when robbing increases. Our video today discusses the robbing behavior and why it happens and what you can do to stop it.
Once you understand why robbing takes place, it's much easier to manage and it will put you as beekeeping more at ease.
In addition to what was mentioned in this video. For robbing to take place a scout bee as to pass a guard bee, find the food source and tell his hive mates. ...
Here is a quick microscope video that was taken today at 400x at a liquid mixture of a few honey bees' abdomens. The 'rice' looking shape is Nosema Disease. Its possible these honey bees that were sampled have both N. apis and N. ceranae.
This disease is fairly common, but in high amounts, and leading into winter it can be a cause of colony death when they overwinter.
In today's article, we cover an overview of Drone Congregation Areas (DCAs). These fascinating areas are still not fully understood by bee scientists, but they play a critical role in propagating beneficial genes to the surrounding colonies. Learn more about them in this article.
Drone Congregation Areas (DCA's) are a fascinating areas in the honey bee world that have an important biological component. Learn more.
Today we are releasing "Episode 12: Observations From Outside The Hive" - we will discuss briefly some tips that can assist beekeepers in getting an idea about what may be happening inside the hive from their observations outside the hive.
Learn about observations you can make outside a beehive to get a glimpse of what is happening inside. At the end of the day, inspections are the only true in...
I was watching this honey bee - and she was tiring me out! So much work to supply that excellent honey - and this is one of many steps. Truly amazing.
Emmett, ID
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Many beekeepers confuse orientation flights with swarming or absconding. In this case, this is absconding, but it's similar to swarming - a large group of honey bees leaving the hive. Orientation flights can be a large portion of bees near the entrance normal many of them doing figure eight flights but some can be flying near the hive, as this is a tremendous amount of bees flying around the hive in almost all directions - almost like a honey bee tornado đ.
Resources are shared with not only honey bees but other native pollinators.
Here is a quick microscope video that was taken today at 400x at a liquid mixture of a few honey bees' abdomens. The 'rice' looking shape is Nosema Disease. Its possible these honey bees that were sampled have both N. apis and N. ceranae. This disease is fairly common, but in high amounts, and leading into winter it can be a cause of colony death when they overwinter.
I was watching this honey bee - and she was tiring me out! So much work to supply that excellent honey - and this is one of many steps. Truly amazing.
We had a smaller colony in this hive with a newly marked queen. A swarm landed on the hive, entered the colony, killed the original queen and their queen took over. đ¤Śđťââď¸. OkâŚđ.
Unfortunately, I donât think Iâll have time to post another article this week. Instead, I wanted to show you where we collect our drones for Instrumental insemination. We keep our drones in an open super with netting on both sides and cloth in front to keep them inside and for easy access. We have a lamp on the top to keep the drones busy. Itâs essential to harvest within a few hours after capturing - drones die very quickly without house bees to take care of them. We also add fresh honey or sugar syrup to keep them fed. ďżź
A nice video of a queen being surrounded by her attendants.
Water is vital for honey bees - as the weather gets warmer or humidity needs to be adjusted within the hive - water with be gathered by foraging bees. Make sure there is a source of water near your hives at all times during the season; honey bees can drown, so rocks or other items can be used to help them gather water quickly.
For our Monday post, I wanted to talk about the mysterious bee behavior of âwashboardingâ or ârockingâ. What makes this behavior so interesting is bee researchers still do not know why honey bees do this. And yes, there is still a lot of things about honey bee we do not yet know. This is true with most of our natural world. Here is a video of washboarding in action. You will notice a lot of bees rocking back and forth and they touch the ground with their antenna and proboscis. Here is what we do know. These are all worker bees - or house bees. No drones or foragers participate in this activity. Also, even though a number of hives will be washboarding in great numbers at the same timeâŚnot all hives do. It seems that washboarding is more common in times of dearth (a time where little food is coming into the hive), but this is not always the case. As we spoke about recently, honey bees are very hygienic - one thought is that itâs kinda like spring cleaning - (or in this case summer/fall cleaning) - honey bees are removing any honey or cleaning any pathogens in/outside their hive. We know it has a purpose, and we know many hives will be seen at the same time washboarding . Where some hive a few bees are participating and other many are involved, while others seem no bees are washboarding (at least seem from outside) This gives all hive owners a unique position to use observation in order to come up with your own theories on why this is done. So we considered some of the facts, what do you think washboarding is? If you feel comfortable, share your thoughts in the comments below.
For our Wednesday update, we wanted to talk about the hygienic behavior found in honey bees. So here is a video of two honey bees cleaning another honey bee. Honey bees have a built-in hygienic trait. Inside the hive, honey bees will not defecate inside the hive. In areas of extreme winter, honey bees have been known to wait four months or longer before defecating outside the hive (sometimes as soon as they exit the hive =)). In order not to contaminate the colony. Death inside the hive is removed quickly, the so-called 'undertaker honey bees' having the responsibility of removing dead bees or discarding affected larvae and moving them away from the hive. They will even fly a good distance away from the hive and pile their dead in that area to keep disease and sickness away from the hive. Old foragers bees, knowing their time is limited, will even fly away from the hive to die, that way preserving the cleanliness of the hive. They clean the inside (remove debris, seal cracks, repair comb, etc.) and, in some cases, the outside of their hive too. They will clean themselves regularly, and in situations where they are not able to clean themselves thoroughly (honey on the wings, or in some cases of Varroa), other hive mates will assist in cleaning them - as seen in this video. We can learn a lot about how far honey bees will go to keep themselves and their hive family healthy and clean. Cleanliness is of vital importance, even for honey bees =).
For our Wednesday update I wanted to share a video inspecting the hive that came from that massive 100,000 bees. I touch on updates from that hive, grafting, queen breeding, and festooning. Iâll be honest, it was early in the morning and I was only using one hand to filmâŚit was not very easy đ. When I am saying âqueen cupsâ i mean âqueen cellsââŚitâs not a Hollywood video - but hopeful you find something educational and gain some insights from it đ.
For our Monday post, we have a nice shot of the entrance of one of the colonies. A major role that older house bees fill is temperature regulation. This includes regulating the humidity, and temp of the hive which is normally found around 95 degrees and humidity above 50%. If hive temperatures and humidity are outside these bounds these house bees will gather near the entrance and âfanâ their wings to create better airflow. Inside the hive there are a few things going on that require steady temperatures and humidity levels. Raises new bees, called brood, require precise levels, and since honey is hydrophilic - it gathers moisture from the air, but that water also needs to evaporate. Optimal honey needs to be lower then 18% water content. So evaporation and regulating the hives humidity and temperature are very important to the honey bees survival, and health. Not to mention great tasting honey đ. All these hive operations are all done without missing⌠a beatâŚđ. đ
Hello all, for our Wednesday update we wanted to share another honey bee rescue with you. This video does not due the tremendous size of this hive justiceâŚit was massive. I said in the video 60,000 to 70,000 - I think it was close to 100,000 honey bees. It was one of the largest rescues we have done. They were unhappy that there hive was being relocated - but since the owner was tearing the house down the following day we were happy to help. Iâll post some other pictures , but the video or the pictures do not do this justice. We took numerous trips back to the apiary with boxes and boxes of bees. Those combs were approximately 2 feet high by 4 feet long and there was around 9 of themâŚfilled with bees. It was incredible đ .
For our Monday morning post, we wanted to share a video from our bee lab (we got a camera for the microscopes! yah!). A few things you can see here, this poor girl died of pesticide exposure. One noticeable feature is the proboscis (that red object extending from the head - its essentially the tongue of the honey bee) extended post mortem. Another discernable feature is the amount of hair of the body of the honey bee. You can also see, in part of the video a close up of the foreleg. Which is used a lot in cleaning, and grabbing wax or transferring pollen. Another item I wanted to point out that is fairly clear near the end is the back legs. You can see the back leg is much larger than its other legs. The bottom half, it looks yellow in tinge is called the basitarsus, right above that is the 'pollen basket' or corbicula. This is were the honey bee stores pollen as it carries it from flower to flower and back to the hive. We will continue to share these amazing pictures and videos on information with our wonderful community. Just a heads up for our upcoming Friday update (we should actually have an update on Friday =)). For ones who have hives (whether hobbyists or commercial), looking at fall and winter our lab will be open for honey bee diagnosis. This is a paid local service, we currently only offer testing results for tracheal mites and Nosema. Results will be back within 48 hours (up to a week depending on lab load). Also, we will (at least hope =)) to have overwintered local instrumental inseminated breeder queens for sell for next years breeding season. So please keep that in mind for local diverse genes for the start of your breeding next year. More info on future Friday updates, and when the website actually finishes! =) Sorry, Ill save the rest for this Friday's update =). Thanks again for your support.
Friday update: apparel is almost done! Itâs looking amazing, cannot wait to share it. Website is still coming along, and overall we are still on track. Next week Friday we should have some nice updates to share. Honey Bee fact: it will take up to 500 flowers to gather a full nectar load before honey bee foragers fly back to their colony. (Or only 1 depending on the flower, season, and production). A âfull loadâ of nectar is around 50% to 85% of the body weight of a honey bee. Thatâs like a 150 pound individual carrying upwards of 125 pounds of groceries back home! 12 of these honey bee foragers in their entire lifetime will collect only enough nectar that will convert into just a teaspoon of honey. Wow!
For our Monday post we wanted to show you a short video clip of us direct releasing a queen bee into her new colony. See if you can spot the queen as she exits the cage into her new home. You will notice she moves at a much faster pace then the workers. Her new hive has already accepted her as their new queen and now she will begin the caste position of queen bee and begin laying eggs. The queen bee has a number of pheromones that trigger different responses from the hive. The queen can live up to about 6 years, that is much longer then her worker bees which have an average life span of about 6 weeks. Once she starts laying eggs, she will stay within the hive for the rest of her life, only ever flying out of the hive when it swarms to locate a new home.
Friday update: nothing new to report. Website is still in the works, we should be on schedule to accept preorders for next year starting in Oct 1st, and our apparel is almost designed. We should have more updates in the coming weeks. Here is a recent video we took. Sorry the audio is not great on some parts and it was a last minute video shoot while we were doing our inspections. We will try to plan our videos more in the coming future đ. I hope you guys enjoy it. Video audio edit: approximately 8,000 âmicroorganismsâ live in a hive, not solelyďżźbacteria.
For our Friday update today, we have no new info to provide. However, we hope to have our apparel designed by next week - when we get those, we will share them with the community to get your feedback. We wanted to share a short 7-minute video with you on our process for honey bee rescues. Sorry in advance, it is our first video, and we just put it together quickly while we were at the bee rescue to try to show you guys our process from start to finish - we hope you like it =).
Now I wanted to show you a comb from an established hive. This comb was in a tree with a swarm (remember the last one?). A few things you can see here (sorry for the short clip). One you can see a young honey bee hatching. When a honey bee hatches it chews its way out the top, and one of its first jobs is to clean its cell and make it ready for the next egg from the queen. You may be able to tell, but this comb is not very healthy looking. If you see black comb or even discolored ridges, that is normal. Over time the comb will turn black and the bees do coat the top of the cells with propolis (bee glue) for medical purposes and to bring stability to the cell structor. You can see a few signs of possible disease. Perforated cell cappings, dead bees still in cells, sunken cappings, and discolored larva. Many of these bees were not excepted into the new hive most likely due to illness, weakness, and disease, some were cleaned off by a few bees and brought inside, other were healthy and walk right inside, and others were forcibly removed for the safety of the hive. The honey bees can smell pheromones and identify sickness. How quickly they remove the sick and diseased contributes to the health of the whole colony. Honey bees are naturally hygienic, the more they express that trait as early as possible the healthier the colony will be. A lack of hygienic trait will be detrimental to the whole colony.
Here is another âswarmâ call we received last week. This was two days after that storm we had. These bees fell about 25 feet, and was in someoneâs backyard. They were sitting in the sun for 2 days before we got there to rescue them, poor things. We had to cut out the comb and place them into an empty frame and we transferred them to a 10 frame deep box. There was a few thousand here. About 10,000 or so. I post some other pictures. We did not spot the queen. We saved what we could. đ.
I wanted to share a short clip from the entrance of one of our hives. As you watch you will see some different things going on with these bees at the entrance. Let me explain whatâs going on⌠1. Fanning - noticed the honeybees that look like they are about ready to take off - but they are staying still almost like a helicopter on the ground? That is called âfanningâ. Honeybees fan to control the temperature and humidity inside their hive. These are not foragers, but rather house bees (bees that are less then 3 weeks old - and have various responsibilities within the hive). The hive has an Optimal temperature and humidity that it must stay at for the benefit of honey production and brood rearing. These house bees have been given the assignment of hive temperature regulators. 2. Foragers - you see the honeybees flying in from outside the hive onto the landing pad? These are the foragers. Housebees graduate to foragers after about 3 weeks, where they spend the last 3 weeks of their life gathering water, pollen, nectar, and resin (later turning into propolis - or bee glue) for the whole hive. 3. Sleeping - do you see that one bee close to the camera - that looks like itâs dead? đ. Itâs not dead, but rather sleeping (you can tell by itâs abdomen moving up and down) Yes, bees sleep as well. This bee is a house bee - house bees(since the hive needs maintenance 24/7) donât sleep only during the night (like foragers do) but sleep whenever they get some time. Much like humans - they sleep about 5-8 hours a day. The life of honey bees is a fascinating world - with so much to learn about. Please share, like, or comment on our posts. We appreciate greatly all the support and interest we have received from our community. We are excited to fully launch next year for classes, tours, raw honey, beeswax candles, and so much more. Thank you for your interests and support. We love these amazing creature and are happy to share them with you. At this point, w
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