There are many, many free books on beekeeping available on the Internet. Below is a list of some of my favorites and they are available for free download from archive.org (just follow the links). There are several formats available but I find the PDF versions the best because they contain the original art work and can be read by many different devices such as computer, tablet and smart phone.
They are obviously old but not much of the material is out of date (well, some of the prices quoted certainly don't apply to today!). There is nothing on Varroa mites either but the basic explanations of bee behavior is better, IMHO, than any much more modern work.
"Langstroth on the Hive and Honey Bee" Revised, Enlarged and Completed by Chas. Dadant & Son, 1909 https://archive.org/details/cu31924062780246
"Beginners Bee Book" Frank C. Pellett, 1919 https://archive.org/details/beginnersbeebook00pell
"Productive Bee-Keeping" Frank C. Pellett, 1916 https://archive.org/details/productivebeekee01pell
"Practical Queen-Rearing" Frank C. Pellet, 1918 https://archive.org/details/practicalqueenre00pellrich
"American Honey Plants" Frank C. Pellet, 1920 https://archive.org/details/americanhoneypla00pell
"Improved Queen-Rearing" Henry Alley, 1903 https://archive.org/details/improvedqueenrea00alle
"Dadant System of Beekeeping" C. P. Dadant, 1920 https://archive.org/details/dadantsystemofbe00dada
"The Honey Bee - A Manual of Instruction in Apiculture" Frank Benton, 1895 https://archive.org/details/honeybeemanualof01bent
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Flowers on April 1, 2015
It is probably a good idea to note when particular flowers bloom in my area for future reference. Accordingly, I note that on April 1, 2015 I found peach, pear, and plums blooming in my orchard. Cherries and apples are in bud but not yet open. Cleveland pears and saucer magnolia are blooming but I don't see any bee activity around them. Crocus and daffodils bloomed a couple weeks earlier and there was some bee interest. Dandelions are just starting as is dead nettle. Dutch clover is sprouting but not in bloom yet.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Soft Maple Blossoms - February 8, 2015
Another warm (70 F) day in February. Found a big ol' soft maple in my yard in full bloom. Did not see any bees around them even though they were flying around the hives.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Checking Hives - February 7, 2015
What is so rare as a 70 deg day in February! Especially in mid-Missouri. Actually, 50+, if not 70, deg days are not that unusual and such days give us a chance to check up on our hives. First I weighed the four hives at values ranging from 66.5 to 75.0 pounds. That's not much different from what I got three weeks ago so I guess the bees are still conserving energy for the spring push.
When I peeked in I found in two of the hives the cluster was at the top of the box under the inner cover with each one filling 5 or six gaps between frames. There was plenty of honey and the honey was in the classic arch above empty comb. In the other two hives the clusters were just below the third boxes which were full of honey - maybe some extracting this spring? I didn't bother to check for eggs or brood - that can wait until next month. All in all, I'm a happy camper.
It was also a very nice day to work in the shop. I added a new, longer table for my radial arm saw which will make it easier to rip the long pieces of plywood for my wide hives. I also started assembling deep frames which will soon be needed - 100 today.
When I peeked in I found in two of the hives the cluster was at the top of the box under the inner cover with each one filling 5 or six gaps between frames. There was plenty of honey and the honey was in the classic arch above empty comb. In the other two hives the clusters were just below the third boxes which were full of honey - maybe some extracting this spring? I didn't bother to check for eggs or brood - that can wait until next month. All in all, I'm a happy camper.
It was also a very nice day to work in the shop. I added a new, longer table for my radial arm saw which will make it easier to rip the long pieces of plywood for my wide hives. I also started assembling deep frames which will soon be needed - 100 today.
Friday, January 16, 2015
Jig to assemble wooden frames
Beautiful day today. Temperature in the low 50s, bright sunshine. Shirt sleeve weather. My bees from all four hives were flying merrily about their entrances so there shouldn't be any problems with constipation. As reported earlier, the weights of all four hives are in the comfortable levels.
It was warm enough in the shop to start on bee projects for the coming seasons. In particular, I wanted to make a jig to aid in the assembly of wooden frames. I have been assembling them one by one but I anticipate I will need 800 or more this year and some sort of aid would be helpful. The design is simple. It consists of a rectangular frame made from scrap 3/4 plywood whose length corresponds to the distance between the end bars (17 inches) and whose width is arbitrary depending upon how many frames are to be assembled at one time. There are a couple of swinging "doors" on each end that, when closed, hold the end bars in a vertical direction. When open, the "doors" allow the finished frames to be removed from the jig by sliding them sideways.
In use, the doors are closed and latched and end bars are placed in the space between the "door" and the end of the frame. The top (or bottom, if you wish) bars are placed in the notches in the end bars and nailed or stapled in place. The entire assembly is turned over to that the bottom bars (or top if you already did the bottoms) can be added similarly and nailed or stapled. Open the "doors" and remove the finished frames. The pictures below should explain all.
It was warm enough in the shop to start on bee projects for the coming seasons. In particular, I wanted to make a jig to aid in the assembly of wooden frames. I have been assembling them one by one but I anticipate I will need 800 or more this year and some sort of aid would be helpful. The design is simple. It consists of a rectangular frame made from scrap 3/4 plywood whose length corresponds to the distance between the end bars (17 inches) and whose width is arbitrary depending upon how many frames are to be assembled at one time. There are a couple of swinging "doors" on each end that, when closed, hold the end bars in a vertical direction. When open, the "doors" allow the finished frames to be removed from the jig by sliding them sideways.
In use, the doors are closed and latched and end bars are placed in the space between the "door" and the end of the frame. The top (or bottom, if you wish) bars are placed in the notches in the end bars and nailed or stapled in place. The entire assembly is turned over to that the bottom bars (or top if you already did the bottoms) can be added similarly and nailed or stapled. Open the "doors" and remove the finished frames. The pictures below should explain all.
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Checking on hives - January 13, 2015
We've had a couple of polar vortexes (vortices?) already this winter with temps falling into the low single digits. But there have been interludes of 40+ (F) as well which could have led to excessive honey consumption. I use a "luggage" scale I purchased on the Internet for about $11 with shipping to weigh my hives. The device is a plastic handle with some electronics inside and a hook which is intended to capture the handles of a piece of luggage. But for hive work, it slips under the bottom board and allows one to measure how many pounds (or kg, or g or oz) of force are bearing down on the hive supports when the hive is just lifted off the support. Do this on both ends, add together the two numbers and you have the weight of the hive.
My four hives (three medium boxes each) weighed on this day from 70.4 to 76 pounds. The empty (with frames) weight of this arrangement is just under 30 pounds. This indicates I have at least 40 pounds of wax, bees and honey at this stage of the winter. I figure there are no more than 4 pounds of wax and 3 or 4 pounds of bees (I could hear their slight buzzing when I put my ear to each hive) so that calculates to at least 30 pounds of honey which is a number I am comfortable with at this stage.
My four hives (three medium boxes each) weighed on this day from 70.4 to 76 pounds. The empty (with frames) weight of this arrangement is just under 30 pounds. This indicates I have at least 40 pounds of wax, bees and honey at this stage of the winter. I figure there are no more than 4 pounds of wax and 3 or 4 pounds of bees (I could hear their slight buzzing when I put my ear to each hive) so that calculates to at least 30 pounds of honey which is a number I am comfortable with at this stage.
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