For beginner beekeepers, choosing the best method to uncap honey frames is crucial for maximizing honey yield while minimizing waste and mess. At Dadant & Sons, we understand the dilemmas you face and offer a variety of tools to suit different preferences and requirements. In this blog, we’ll explore some popular uncapping tools, their benefits, and potential drawbacks to help …
In popular conception, the true pay dirt for beekeepers is honey. While honey is indeed a valuable commodity, busy honey bees also create another treasure: beeswax. Here, we'll explore the most effective, easiest ways to separate beeswax from the honeycomb. The bees produce wax in their glands. It serves multiple functions, primarily as the essential building block of the beehive – …
You invest a ton of time and energy into building, maintaining, and harvesting honey from your beehives – so the last thing you need is for an animal to get into them and ruin all your hard work. From mice to bears to wasps, marauding animals can wreak havoc on, and even destroy, your beehives. Some of these animal vandals eat …
So you've decided to venture into the luxurious, rich, and rewarding world of beekeeping. You've got your gear, you have a love of tiny winged things, now you need to build them a home. The question arises, "Where do I put the hive?" Time to break out that old real estate chestnut, location location location. Figuring out the best beehive placement …
Did you know that around 90% of wild plants depend on pollination to survive? Bees are an important part of our daily lives, even though most people aren't aware of the impact they have on our environment. Many people have taken up having beehives either as their career or as a hobby. Knowing how to install your bees into a hive is vital to …
Applying a treatment for Varroa mites after the honey harvest in fall is one of the best ways to keep levels of these pests under control during the winter. In most areas, Varroa mite populations tend to increase in hives over the summer months and hit a peak just as honeybee colonies are laying eggs and raising brood for the winter. …
When it’s time to reap the rewards of your work as a beekeeper, make harvesting supers with frames full of delicious, golden honey a simple and easy process with these tips from Dadant & Sons. As always, it’s a good idea to have all of your tools and materials ready and close at hand before you begin. To start harvesting supers, …
Texas beekeeper Dwain Cleveland brought his swarm box for relocating honeybees to our attention. After seeing it in action, we thought we'd bring it to yours, too, by sharing this video. Each spring, beekeepers may choose to start a new colony by installing package bees or nucs into a new beehive, or even purchasing fully established hives from another beekeeper. Some …