Bee Candy Frame

I'm trying a bee candy frame. I took a new frame with plastic foundation. I added some wire to the outside of the frame to help hold the candy. I poured the candy onto the frame while it was still very hot. The candy firmed up nicely. I'll let you know how it worked out in a future post.

Bee Candy

I made bee candy last night I use a 4 parts sugar to 1 part water with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar. The secret to making the candy is boiling the mixture with the lid on and cooling it to around 200 degrees. I only had one hive that needed that needed the candy at this point. The hive is by far the weakest hive. I hope they make it.

Contruction Continues

The weather has warmed up enough to work in the garage again. I was able to complete 4 more deep hive bodies today. I also placed an order for 66 frames this weekend. 66 is a really strange number. There is a method to my madness though. 66 frames is the exact number at which the shipping cost per frame is the lowest. The cost of shipping goes up the when you order more or less than 66. I end up saving a quarter per frame when I order 66 rather than 100 frames.

Snow Covered Hives

It's been snowing off and on for the past few weeks.  It's finally let up enough to go out and check the hives.  I brushed off the snow and gave my hives a listen.  100% of the hives are still buzzing at this point. 

Making Progress in Winter

I continue to work on making bee hives for the spring.  I made life a little easier on myself this week.  I visited the local metal shop.  They were able to cut me galvanized tin for my outer covers.  The cost ended up less than $5.00 a top!!!

More on Pocket Hole Bee Hives

A number of people have expressed doubts about the longevity of hives made with with pocket holes. They also are concerned about small hive beetles using the pocket holes as a hiding place.

I'm still planning on putting my 10 hives into service made with pocket holes. I've glued the joints and used five screws per corner.Time will be the judge of their stability.

I think the hiding places for beetles is a serious issue though. I found it really difficult to fill the holes just with a putty knife. The air pressure just push the wood filler back out.

The cool thing about wood filler is that it's about the same consistency as icing. I pulled out a cake icing bag and used it to fill in the holes!!!

The Planning May Begin

The seed company catalogues all arrived today. They sure do have farmers pegged.  We've just started thumbing through the pages.  Some Fuji apple trees caught my eye in the Stark Bro's catalogue. I'm putting them on my wish list.