What are the risks and rewards of a Italian package of bees?
Packages are very interesting and I want to take you step by step on how they are packaged. The first step is manufacturing the package box. The plywood box is normally a one time use box that has two sides of screen wire. This screen wire allows the bees to have a good amount of […]
Picking up your bees or having them shipped? Part 6
Today’s blog will discuss the pro’s and con’s of shipping bees. This is a necessary form of transporting most bees in the USA. I want to take a look at package bees. A package of bees is simply a screened plywood box with two screened sides and about 16 oz. of sugar water for the […]
Purchasing a Nuc – Retail vs. Wholesale Part 5
Today is the last segment of a 5 part series on Nuc purchases. During this time of the year, the large commercial beekeepers offer beekeeping clubs and associations discounts on purchasing 100 nucs from them. Normally, this is a $20 to $50 savings. The larger commercial guys will be selling 1,000’s of nucs and make […]
Quality Characteristics of a Nuc – Part 4
You are paying a lot of money for your nuc and you should have a quality nuc in return! The spectrum of quality control varies from none to excellence. Let’s start with what a quality nuc looks like. First, the nuc has matured for 4 weeks plus. This allows the hive to accept the queen […]
What is a Nuc? Wax vs. Plastic Foundation – Part 3
The foundation is VERY important to the hobby and commercial beekeepers. First, I will say neither way is better but this blog will allow you insight to what happens from the start of a nuc. Wax foundation is probably the highest standard and most expensive way of utilizing foundation in a nuc. Here are some […]
Purchasing a Nuc? Frames & Foundation – Part 2
Let’s start with the wood ware. I have heard and seen commercial beekeepers using “old” (4 years to 8 year) frames and foundation. These beekeepers rotate their old frames and foundation from their old hives to make a new nuc. Here is the problem that you face when buying a nuc that has been made […]
What are the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing a nuc? Part 1
This important discussion is very important to the beginning beekeeper! This will be our subject all this week. Each day we will discuss an important element of a nuc. This will be a five part blog. We must start with what is a nuc? A nuc or nucleus is a 5 frame box of bees. The […]
Carniolan Honey Bee Temperament
Here is the short story on how I started raising Carniolan bees. I ordered about 50 Italian queens and was accidently shipped 50 Carniolan queens. I decided that I would step ahead with these Carniolan queens and learn about these bees. This journey was very interesting. The start of Spring looked disastrous due to the […]
Italian Honey Bee Temperament
I have been asked what is the temperament of an Italian honey bee? The Italian honey bee is, by far, the most common honey bee used by beekeepers. The Italian honey bee has many good traits which include the following: 1. The Italian does have the best temperament we have encountered. It must be noted […]
Winter
Cold weather has now hit most of the east coast and the entrance reducers should be to their smallest opening. This will help your colony maintain their warmth. Those who are using wood blocks should make sure the opening is no greater than ½ inch opening. One additional item to also check is “cracks” or […]
Welcome to MountainSweetHoney.com!
We are happy that you found our new website. We look to keep relevant information on this page to help our beekeepers. Our blog will have a daily perspective on beekeeping. We will discuss beginning beekeeping to more advance beekeeping. We are also on FaceBook.com @ https://www.facebook.com/MountainSweetHoneyCo
