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16 Mar

Welcome to ABC Bees! Keep reading this blog post to learn about all the beekeeping programs and courses that we offer....

17 May

Bee a Good Neighbour In rural areas honeybees can happily roam for kilometres without encountering neighbours or other animals. Not so in the city. Unexpected close encounters and misunderstandings about honeybee behavior are a recipe for fear-based reactions and negative impressions about urban beekeeping. While public education can help alleviate some...

12 Apr

Do you have everything you need to start beekeeping? We've put together this handy equipment list that you can reference throughout the year. ...

28 Sep

The seasons are changing so it's time for winterization 101. Beekeeping is all about understanding rhythm of the season and how it applies to the rhythm and timing of a beehives’ development. A beehive will grow starting in February and recede in to September when managed in the Prairies, following...

13 Sep

When it comes to feeding bees, it is important to know when to feed, when not to feed, and why you're feeding. During the fall our goal is to set our bees up for success so that they can survive through the winter. Feeding sugar syrup is cheap insurance. ...

03 Sep

Fall is coming quick which means it's time to start thinking about fall beekeeping! Here are some resources to have on hand as you start preparing your beehives for the changing of seasons. The University of Guelph has a fantastic collection of beekeeping videos. Here's one about Feeding Bees and Overwintering! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8bDzD-aXj4 Fat Bees...

https://youtu.be/4EBqG1VSO2Q Harvesting Honey We want you to succeed so here are some easy things to follow when harvesting your honey. Compressing your brood nest to your bottom chamber, and back filling vacant spaces with honey-pollen is going to help you ensure you don't over harvest. You should never leave frames of undrawn frames...

01 Aug

At this time of year, it’s likely that your bees are basking in the glory of a major summer nectar flow, working hard to build up those honey stores for the winter and a little for sharing. However, there is someone else who is enjoying the bounties of summer as...

30 Jul

  Spring Splits on the Move MOVING BEEHIVES   Here’s a look at the hives that were moved from their winter yard over to Blue Mountain Biodynamic Farms. In this video we take our spring splits that have been prepared to be moved to their summer yards. We talk about: - Using inner-covers as...

19 Jul

Managing hives, in its simplest form, is about weighing pros and cons, and leading your odds of success in your hives direction. This means making blind choices based on statistics...

05 Jul

They’re hard to miss. Big, fuzzy balls rolling around in pollen or the low hum of their flight muscles as they meander through the yard in search of flowers. It’s summer and the bumble bees are back!   The Bumble Bee Lifecycle In the spring, bumble bee queens emerge from their hibernaculum, a...

22 Jun

What does it mean to be honey bound? You know your hives are honey bound when you have honey in your brood nest. When honey bees run out of space, they have no option but to start filling empty brood combs with honey and pollen. This becomes a problem because the...

10 Jun

In fact, swarming is a safe, calm and organized behaviour for bees. They all cling on to one another by latching hands and feet, surrounding the queen because without her they will not be able to survive. The scout bees fly around the area looking for a new nesting site....

25 May

If you are planning on making splits in your hives during the spring and early summer, you are going to have a lot of young bees in your parent colony. This is a good time to introduce foundation or foundationless frames to your parent hive. This is also a great...

11 May

By now, you should have had the opportunity to do a survival check on your hives. It's time to make a plan for your first full hive inspection of the season. You will be prepared to look for remaining honey stores and remaining pollen stores. Your survival checks were all...

27 Apr

Let’s chat about spring hive inspections and what you should be looking for. I have been telling a lot of people about hive succession and what to expect of your bees looking forward to spring. Remember, when you are doing your hive management, you should always be thinking 3 weeks...