What Is Too Dark?

How dark is too dark to keep?

I can't decide whether to cut the dark comb (all comb) or leave it for the chance that it could be used. 

New Coat of Paint

I painted two brood boxes. The round comb box that I painted a few years ago sits under the newly painted yellow brood box. And the two boxes under those are supers of original color.

Sweet Clover

The clover fields are beautiful here. This is one of the last few fields that still has the deep magenta color. Many of the other fields around are finished blooming.

Here are the farmer's hives which may also pollinate the three neighboring clover fields. 

Lemongrass Oil

We picked up some lemongrass oil this evening at Whole Foods. Lemongrass oil is used as a bait for feral bees looking for a new home.

A friend offered us space on their 8-acres to bait a hive or two. We have two 8-frame Langstroth hives we are currently not using. We are in the process of removing all the frames and freezing them as some of them look pretty scary and we hope that freezing them will kill any remnant pests. I would like give them a new coat of paint and then place them on the property.

Dirty Old Hives

I've been putting off cleaning up the Lang hives...

afraid what I might find.

Turns out I had a reason to be afraid...

and what are these borings from anyway...?

or what on earth could have caused this...?

I did find a queen cell and a few live worms...

What business do these worms have in my hives?

Hopefully I can make some use of the hives.

Round Comb Paint Job

I painted the round comb super (top) yellow
and also stripped paint off some bars from the top bar hive.

Langstroth Inspection

A closer inspection into the Langstroth hives I bought... hopefully I can clean them up.

Paint Stripping

Not sure if this stuff is safe for the bees, but gave it a try anyway. Not sure it was worth the trouble.

Used Langstroth Hives

Went out to Brighton to look at some Langstroth hives at the strawberry patch. Should have left when I saw the mess, but I wanted a hive so much that I was talked into buying two full hives plus a round comb box, two suits with veils and gloves, a hive tool and other miscellaneous trinkets.

What's a good price for very used Langs?

Israeli Hives

Since taking the beekeeping class, we have enjoyed finding beehives wherever we go. Here are foreign hives we saw along the road while heading up to Galilee, Israel.