Two weeks after being diagnosed with a severe allergic response to limonene and fragrance mix II, my allergist added "propolis" to the list after a delayed response marker appeared on my back. Shit. Propolis is resin collected by honeybees used to fill crevices and to seal honeycombs. Fucking bee glue. Confused on why I would …
Tag: bee
Amateur Hour in the Bee Yard
A week and a half ago, approximately 30,000 honeybees were delivered on my front doorstep. I have to admit that I was a little surprised to see my purchase of three, 3-pound boxes of bees delivered. I must have a ballsy mailman. Bees in shipment are notorious for picking up “hitchhikers” or other honeybees in …

Oh Hap-BEE day!
What an amazing experience this afternoon! Today I had the pleasure of capturing and hiving my very first swarm of bees! This couldn't have come at a better time: on last inspection of H1, I had finally succumbed to the notion that they were in fact Queenless, and I was going to have to do another split. …

Split – 21 March 2015
My hesitance to post about my bees was simply due to the fact that I didn’t want to jinx the girls before they had a chance. (My poor Chickens….) While I have not done an inspection since my split, I feel fairly safe in saying that the split indeed was successful, and I again have …
It’s a BEE-utiful Day!
The first hurdle has officially been vaulted over. Two out of my three bee hives made it through the winter! Spring has sprung here in southern Illinois, and the forecast is full of beautifully mild days for the next two weeks. I went ahead and pulled the winterizing gear off my three hives and peeled …