Winter set in this month. We had snow in amounts that i hadn't seen now for a number of years. I had to wade out a few times to the bee yard to dig out the hives. But having our hives tucked under the pine trees and tarps placed on the north east sides of the fence, it did protect them from the drifting snow. Twice their entrances were snowed in and i had to open them, so that wasn't too bad.
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| James finding the parking lot |
For the past 4 Saturdays i attended a Webinar on beekeeping. It was offered by the Min of Agriculture and hosted by Paul vanWestendorp. Each 2 1/2 hour session was filled with great information, like spring and summer maintenance, equipment and the last 2 sessions were strickly on disease and pest management. I learnt so much but mostly....i learnt i don't very much and it will take two lifetimes to learn everything.
The most valuable info i heard was how to be aware of whats going on inside the hive and how to constantly check on the bees so pests or diseases can not take a foot hold. I look forward to practice these techniques this summer. Another valuable thing was to keep a record, which i already do, cause i have a good memory but its short. My note book has seen better days, its all ratty and the pages are worn and dirty, but it works. But last fall i ordered a beekeeping journal to write notes in that I want to keep. My new journal, is a lovely hard cover book and i thought i would go over my notes and anything i feel is really important i will write in the journal. A fellow beekeeper suggested to use a Write in the Rain book for when you are out in the field, as they are weather proof, they are great, we used them before when we ran the salmon hatchery. So i will probably order one of them once my poor old note book is full.
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| Pretty new journal |
One of my favorite things that Paul said during the Webinar while he was talking about getting use to not wearing gloves when working inside the hives was "Bee a polite guest when visiting your hives". Basically he was saying....be gentle and quiet, move slow but deliberate while working with the bees.
Until next time. Bee happy.
