Wild Woods Apiary

11/22/2024

“Keepers of the light, no matter the length of day.”

Hope everyone is safe and warm heading into the cooler months and shorter days. 🕯️ 🐝

10/03/2024

October reminder. ..

09/20/2024

Fresh honeycomb is back! Available at Covington La Farmer's Market this Saturday!!

09/17/2024

As the light changes toward fall, cut comb is tangible evidence that summer was indeed the sweetest of seasons.

08/02/2024

Solid pollination by the labor force;)🐝🐝

07/21/2024

Cultivated nectar during Summer’s dearth..Won’t be long now. ..

06/28/2024

Excited to announce that honey is now available on Magazine! Go grab a jar of liquid sunshine and check out the really really awesome selection of wines and other offerings!!

04/02/2024

circa. 1867 - Swarm Nomenclature.
~ Do you know what the beekeeping terms; prime, cast, c**t, filly, and maiden mean?.

Its Swarm Season in the Northern Hemisphere.
Image: circa. 1896 ~ Hiving a Swarm. England

The first swarm that issues from a stock of bees in the spring is called the "prime" swarm, and is usually the strongest and best which such a stock may be expected to produce that season.

The second swarm, or first afterswarm, is termed a "cast" and usually issues from ten to fourteen days after the prime swarm. It is commonly weaker than the prime swarm -that is, composed of fewer bees; and coming later in the season, does not always secure sufficient stores to pass the winter safely. It has the advantage, however, of possessing a young queen.

Should a third swarm issue from the same stock, it is termed a "c**t," and a fourth swarm is called a "filly." These are rare, but when they make their appearance, follow the second swarm, after an interval of only one or two days.

A swarm from a swarm is called a "maiden" swarm, and is accompanied by the same queen which issued with the parent stock when it swarmed.

In ordinary honey districts, good bee-keepers generally strive to prevent the production of any afterswarm by adding supers to their hives. But as this is not always effectual, they catch and destroy the queen of the young swarm, and let the bees return to the parent stock.

Source:
Text:
circa. 1867. American Bee Journal. January, Page 125
https://books.google.com/books?id=zJo-C9CCqvcC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&pg=RA1-PA125 =onepage&q&f=false

Image:
circa. 1896 ~ might be by Cowan, T. W

03/24/2024

Comb building season;)

03/20/2024

🤎🐝

03/15/2024

Raw Bee Pollen is BACK at !!

02/27/2024

PSA! The 2024 swarm season will be here soon!!
If you see honeybees clustered 🐝👇🏽while looking for a new home, call Wild Woods Apiary at 985-373-3016. Most swarm relocations are free of charge, unless they’ve already moved into a structure or wall;) Happy Spring and PLEASE SHARE!!

01/11/2024

You already know what time it is!!

12/12/2023

10/11/2023

circa. 1891 ~ Small Child Plays in the Apiary

Child: - " I smell honey."
Bee-Keeper: - "You will smell something warmer than honey if you don't get out of there pretty quick."

Source:
circa. 1891 ~ American Bee Journal, page 305
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/77775 /207/mode/1up

08/09/2023

It is difficult to appreciate smoking bees without a modern smoker unless one has ever done it, or rather, endured it. Smudge pots hung on the windward side of the hive or smoldering corncobs powered by puffs of human breaths were early attempts to calm bees with smoke. Often the beekeeper received more smoke than the bees.

The pivotal year in smoker evolution occurred in 1873, when Moses Quinby of St.Johnsville, New York constructed a bellows smoker. His smoker began to resemble the modern form, though the funnel pointed straight up. His lightweight smoker could be operated with one hand, the funnel directing smoke right to where it was needed. Quinby began advertising the smoker in the American Bee Journal and Gleanings Bee Culture (now known as Bee Culture) in 1874.

Yet particularly among Quinby's earliest smokers (the left one), the fire went out prematurely. Quinby may have been correcting this flaw, but he died in the spring of 1875. Nevertheless,he chose not to patent his crucial invention, instead, he gave it freely to the beekeeping community.

Quinby's son-in-law, Lyman C. Root, of Mohawk, New York, modified the smoker, patented it in 1879, and sold a few versions of it for several years (shown on the right).

The Hive and the Honey Bee, pg.34