Judah Things

Category: Apiary

  • Fishing For Bees

    The next step in the apiary journey is to have a home for the bee hives to live.

    The wooded area of the property seems a great fit, but the land is nearly impassable with the overgrowth in the summer months. To help keep a working area clear we fenced off an area, laid down a cardboard layer, used some reclaimed wood around the edges, then covered the whole thing in mulch.

    For the stand I spanned some wood between cinder blocks. I think it should do the trick!

    An image of the wooded area of our property. There are trees in the background. The foreground has a fenced area where the ground is covered in a brown mulch. There is a stand made of reclaimed wood and cinder blocks in the fenced area.

    Once done I set the swarm trap. I am using an “Interceptor Pro” I got off Amazon, and dabbled some “Swarm Commander” in it. Now we wait…

    Strapped to the stand in the fenced area sits the swarm trap.

  • Bee Box!

    You can’t have bees without having a home for them.

    After lots and lots of research I settled on an 8-frame Langstroth hive. I wanted to try a top-bar hive but I was given some good advice from a seasoned beekeeper that I should learn with the Langstroth style first. I also read some books (shout-out Thomas D Seeley, I don’t know him but have read his books) and learned that “Bees like to be cozy” so I opted for the smaller 8-frame instead of a 10-frame.

    I also grabbed a swarm trap, but that came already assembled so that’s not half as fun to show off.

    Now to catch some bees?

  • The Bee-venture

    I have decided to take up beekeeping.

    I told a few family members and now I have some supplies. There’s no turning back now!

    I mean look at me, I look ridiculous, I love it.

    Judah in his bee suit being investigated by his two dogs.

    I recently finished Honeybee Democracy and highly recommend it. I also got a copy of The Beekeepers Bible. I have been attending local (online because winter) beekeeping meetups trying to get my legs under me.

    My plan is to try and catch a swarm this spring. Wish me luck.