Scenic Valley Apiary

13/04/2017

Currently, large-scale beekeepers are exempt from sales tax on equipment and other items needed for their business. A new bill being proposed in the state Legislature would expand that exemption to any beekeeper.

09/03/2017

Hi Bee people! Here's the over winter update. I checked on the bees the other day. Of course, I had to pick the windiest day. :( Lids were flying all over the place and I lost a piece of insulation. Oh no! Anyway, after four years of dying bees we finally had a bit of luck! One hive lived and is thriving. The hive farthest away from the house it the lucky hive this time. The entire top brood chamber was full of busy bees and honeycomb. Sadly, the other hive did not make it. Here's to hoping the hive lasts the rest of the winter through spring. We will let everyone know when we schedule bee day sometime in late April probably.

05/11/2016

23/06/2016

Checked on the bees again yesterday. Both hives are doing well. I even saw the queen on one of the hives! I removed the feeders and installed a super on each hive, though it will be awhile before they are making honey. Stay tuned for more updates!

01/06/2016

We installed the two new packages of bees on April 23. For the past month, we have been feeding them and checking on them to make sure all is well. The queen is laying eggs and both hives appear to be growing. Today I removed the reducers from the entrances and also added a second brood chamber to both hives. Each hive has a couple of more frames to fill before moving up to the second chamber.

02/04/2016

Jerry E. Keys has started a new educational page to share bee keeping methods and information about colony survival. Mainly focusing on varroa issues like how to detect varroa mites, raising your own mite resistant queens and dealing with colony management. This page will also focus on "natural" bee keeping methods. Please like this page and share.

Tropical bee keeping is an ongoing project to find the most sustainable, efficient and economical method of bee keeping in the tropics.

02/04/2016

It's almost bee time again! Over the winter, our bees transformed into mice. The good news is that our hives are magical. The bad news is that our bees turned into mice instead of more bees or surviving. So we once again have to purchase new bees start over. You will be receiving an invite to our Spring Bee Transfer shortly.

If you haven't paid yet, please pay Robert $68 by Oct. 1, 2016. If you have any questions or would like to see details of costs, please contact Kristel or Robert or send us a private message here on Facebook.

Robert has built up hives for anyone who would like to try raising bees on your own. He currently has one left that you can purchase for $275 + $94 for a package of bees. The covers and bottom stands are made from scratch and the rest were purchased and then he assembled. All they need is paint. Please see the attached pictures to see the building process and finished product.

19/10/2015

The third year was a charm! We FINALLY were able to harvest some honey. Hive 1 had all but two frames full of honey in one super and the bees are plentiful. We are lucky it was cool out and they didn't want to leave the hive area much. Hive 2 we didn't harvest honey from, but they are doing ok. Hopefully they both survive through the winter. We plan to feed them this fall before snow falls and insulated the hives with hay to help keep them warm. Once the honey is extracted and filtered we will know how many pounds we harvested.

09/09/2015

Checked on the bees on Sunday, September 6. Hive 1 is thriving, there is honey in the first super we added back in July and we added a second super. Hive 2 is going strong as well, with a lot more bees than the last time we checked. There are still a few more frames in the brood chamber that need to be filled and then they can work on the super we added. They are definitely aggressive bees. Robert was stung about 10 times. We will be planning a bee date for October, so look for that information in the near future!

27/07/2015

Beekeepers have changed the ways they're managing their hives and there are now more honeybee colonies than at any time since 1994.

19/07/2015

Sorry for the late post. This update is from last Saturday, July 11. Hive 1 still hasn't started on the supers. There are a lot of drones in the hive and there was another queen cell (see pics). The bottom brood chamber is full of honey, but no brood. There is brood in the second chamber though. They are doing things and there are a lot of bees, so we will keep our eye on them to see if they start producing honey in the supers. Hive 2 isn't doing so well. There is almost no progress on the hive in the last month. There were about 5 queen cells on one frame and not many bees. We think they may have swarmed. There is no new brood in this hive either. Again we will keep an eye on it. Robert said there are a lot of hives that are swarming this year. The bees in Hive 1 are very aggressive. Robert got stung later on in the evening when he was outside. They really don't like people messing with their hive! Photo credit Adam Running

17/06/2015

Well, the inevitable happened. I got stung. In full bee gear. First time in three years though so I think I did pretty good! I visited the bees yesterday and it was a very eventful day. Hive 1 is thriving. There were A LOT of bees and more about to hatch. Bees were everywhere. The queen hatched and appears to be laying a lot of eggs. There was only two frames that needed to be finished on the second brood chamber so we added a super. The whole time I was there checking the bees, I was being attacked by hundreds of bees. If anyone else had been there and not in full bee gear, they would have certainly been attacked. I went to the barn to get a super and they followed me there and hung outside the barn for me to emerge to attack again. So much fun! I actually didn't get stung at Hive 1. Hive 2 is doing well, but not building as quickly as Hive 1. They have about three frames built on the second chamber, so I did not add a super there. But it is where I got stung. I was wearing a tank top and the bee stung me on my shoulder so I am certain if I had a shirt covering my shoulder I wouldn't have been stung. Anyway, the bees are building the combs a little funny there, but I will keep an eye on them. I fed both of the hives as well.