Saturday, August 11, 2012

It's A Bee Party!

In celebration of the 2012 Great Bee Count, we're linking up photos of our hives and the bees that visit our gardens. This is a Blog Hop Bee Party, so everyone who links up will have all the photos linked up on their blog as well (you just need to include the code which can be found below the Linky). My only requirement is that I kindly ask you to link back to Homestead Revival within the post itself (your welcome to use one of my buttons if you'd like).

So let's P.A.R.T.Y!

Here's some 2012 photos of my own Sweetwater Farm hives (pin away!)...





Don't forget to visit Your Garden Show today and see how The Great Bee Count is going and hear some great broadcasts.








Posted by Amy Walker at 12:00 AM
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15 comments:

  1. Ah I love all these pictures! I really really really want to keep bees one day... My husband thinks I'm crazy but absolutely nothing new with that! When I was visiting a farmer's market on Thursday I actually got to talking with one of the keepers, and he said local honey is actually better for you (for all the obvious reasons...) but also because since the pollination is actually all local plants and such, that it helps you build up an immunity to those allergies! Who knew? Thanks for the post!

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  2. I love the copper-top hives! They are simply beautiful and will weather so nicely. I wish we could have bees, but the hubs is not so sure he wants them on such a small lot with the kids & dog. I have a friend who is president of the Central Alabama Bee Keepers organization who I am forwarding your post...although I am sure she already knows about this Bee Count.

    I always love to read your blog and appreciate the leadership you give concerning all things homemaking/homesteading/loving the Lord! Thank you and bless you!

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    1. I don't know your situation but we live on just 1 1/2 acre and have 4 kids and 2 bee hives and it is going nicely. I hope that may encourage you and your husband.

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  3. Amy, This is a great idea to put a focus on these very useful animals. I'm happy to see your new packages of bees are doing well.
    I needed to requeen both of my hives this year and I selected an Italian hygenic and Carniolian queen. Though we are having unusual weather, I'm hoping that the new queens will create strong hives before this Winter.
    This is such a satisfying and fruitful hobby, I wish I had started it years ago.

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  4. I am absolutely loving reading through the posts and looking at the photography in this hop and just wanted to say thank you! My family has just started the homestead journey and one of the most important endeavors for me is beekeeping. I can't wait to get started but I'm still in the learning process lol. It's so great to get ideas and inspiration from those further down the road than myself. :)

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    1. Welcome, Jami! Glad your enjoying the blog. I look forward to hearing from you on your journey!

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  5. Where did you learn and get supplies to bee
    Keep. Do you ever sell your honey? Down the
    Big hill east of you at the farmers market I get honey from Lindsey, I would prefer closer but don't know of anyone. Do you know of anyone?

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    1. I don't sell the honey because I haven't started extracting it yet and I use a LOT, so when I do, it still won't be "enough" - LOL! (I try not to use refined white sugar). Stacia at Tehachi-bee sometimes sells her honey at Tangleweed Farm, but that's the only REAL local source I know of. The people who sell on the street corners around town get their honey from San Bernardino and such. I learned my beekeeping basics in Upland, CA - I took a road trip to attend a hands on class. There are several places you can get supplies - Brushy Mountain Farm, Mann Lake, Dadant. I LOVE the stuff at Brushy Mountain, but I have found Mann lake offers great prices and you can assemble stuff yourself and sae $$.

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  6. Amy, what do you call that box at the top of your hive with holes in it? The one that looks like it is for ventilation. Does it have a screen inside? I have a screened interior board that I use when it's hot weather, but I'd love to know if yours is for faster access or ventilation only?

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    1. Hi Indio,
      Yes, it's for ventilation. Each hole has screen stapled inside. I also have plugs so I can close the holes if I want less ventilation. In our local beekeeping group, we've been talking about the fact that even in the winter, there needs to be a LITTLE ventilation, so this would allow me to control how much.

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  7. Can you tell me where you got them? I'd love to try out a board like that. I haven't seen them at Dadant.

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  8. My husband made them. :-) just a rectangle without a top or bottom and holes with screen patches inside.

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  9. Lucky you to have such a handy hubby. I guess I could modify a shallow super by drilling holes into the sides. Last year, I saw a UK beekeeper who used this type of ventilation system on her hives.
    The problem with my screen board is that the bees are slowly applying propolis to the screen part and will eventually seal it off making it no longer functional. Do you find that the bee are doing that to the screening on yours? do you use it with the inner cover too?

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    1. I haven't noticed them trying to seal it off... yet. I'll keep an eye out for that though. And I still use the inner cover on top of the ventilation box. It's pretty much an experiment at this point, but I noticed they are not bearding on the front of the hive like they were before I added it.

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  10. What a lovely idea. Would have loved to participate but we were away on vacation. Thank you so much for another wonderful idea and post Amy!~ Melissa

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