JC's Bee Blog

  Small Hive Beetle Facts Females hive beetles may lay up to 1,000 eggs. Eggs are laid in cracks and crevices inside the hive. Eggs Hatch in about 3 days (range 3-6 days) Larva feed on pollen, honey and brood inside the hive. Larva leave the hive and enter soil around the hive from 7 to 10pm (peak at 9pm). Remain as larva in soil for 3-5 days. Mature larva are about 1/4" to 3/8" in length. About 83% of larva enter soil within 12 inches of hive. Roughly 80% burrow into the soil to a depth of 1-4 inches.  Hive beetle larva pupate after being larva for 16-19 days. Pupal stage lasts about 8 days. New adult hive beetles emerge from soil several days after becoming adults. Dry soils are more favorable to adults development. Life cycle of shb averages 27-30 days. Adults are known to live 188 days Adults hive beetles hide during winter inside honey bee colonies and in honey houses. Small Hive Beetle larva crawling out to enter soil   Common Practices That Will Help Lower Beetle C...

Have you ever thought about marking your queens? Maybe you were afraid you would hurt her. Or maybe you just didn't know how to go about it. Well I took a few minutes and created a Homemade queen marking cage. These tools can be purchased through most bee equipment suppliers. But I have always been one to make stuff if materials are not hard to come by. And if I can save a few bucks along the way then that's just a bonus. So to make your own queen marking cage you will need a few things to get started. 1. A empty subscription pill bottle. ( Because they are transparent) 2. 7/16" Dowel rod 4 1/2" long 3. Piece of sponge material (Enough to cover plunger) 4. A hole saw the same diameter as pill bottle. ( Mine is 2") 5. Netting material to cover end. 6. Small piece of 3/4" lumber (For plunger) 7. (2) Rubberbands We will start by using a hole saw to remove the bottom of the pill bottle. Measure across the bottom of bottle to see what size is ...

   If you are raising your own queen bees then you know how important it is to have good drone stock in range. Or maybe your planning to setup more yards this year. In this article I want to share a tip on laying out your yards. Bees fly roughly 2 miles from the hive and with this knowledge I took it a step farther. Just to make sure my bees were able to reach each other from different yards. In order to follow these steps I am about to share with you. The following will be needed. 1. A county map ( Of  your bee yard county) 2. Translucent Plastic Folders 3. Thumb Tacs 4. Drawing Compass 5. Scissors      Now on your county map look for the "Scale Information". This area is usually located in one of the corners of the map. You are looking to see how big 2 miles is on your map. For instance on my map 2 inchs is 2 miles. So with that information I can now set my drawing compass and begin preparing my circles. Now as you have probably noticed I sugges...