Category Archives: Beekeeping

Queen Rearing & Equipment Review

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Many new beekeepers are interested in queens and eventually they want to learn how to rear their own.

I’ve listed here beekeeping equipment, equipment that I recommend for queen rearing, and some graphs for learning bee biology (egg, larva, pupa, adult) development stages. It’s essential that anyone learning about queen rearing understand the development stages of the honey bee to understand colony growth and life cycle of each caste. The egg stage lasts about 3 days. The development rates vary between queen, worker, and drone. Queen and worker bees are female, and develop from a fertilized egg. Drones develop from an unfertilized egg, and take the longest to develop.

Additional documents are provided for educational and personal use. Best wishes in your queen rearing.

Queen Rearing Equipment – suggested basics.Download
Queen-Development-Stages-4-27-2023 (Calendar)Download

Queen Rearing Supplies – Dadant.com

Recommended Queen Rearing Book – WicWas Press

Beekeeping Supplies – Local from Beekeepers.com

RBurns Honey-Bee-Dev.-StagesDownload

University of Arkansas – Queen Rearing Brochure

Honey Bee Swarm Season 2022

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Swarms are exciting! It is the birth of a new colony.

Find a swarm of honey bees??  –  Notify me via the contact form below.

Honey bees are a valuable asset, and a beekeeper would be able to give a swarm a good home with good care.

Before leaving the original colony, honey bees gorge on honey for the journey to move to a new home. Generally speaking, they not very defensive. However, they can be enticed to sting. Please, do NOT spray with poisons or try to kill them. Swarms are only in a temporary resting place until they rest enough to move on to their final destination.

Swarming activity is a very common occurrence in April and May. Many people find them in their yards on trees or bushes or other places. Swarms can be harmed by high winds, hail, and heavy rains as well as sometimes cold, freezing weather.

As a public service, and free of charge, I remove or pick-up your un-welcomed honey bee swarm!  I am available in Johnson and  Wyandotte, and counties in Kansas, as well as eastern Jackson and southern Platte counties in Missouri. I will even try to leave you with a small jar of honey for your effort. I have 50 (2022) years experience working with honey bees.

Find a swarm of honey bees?

  • Do not disturb or spray the swarm with water, soap or insecticide.
  • Stay calm. Try to understand what is happening, and that swarming honey bees are not defensive or dangerous unless you might disturb them.

  • A swarm will usually move from the original location within 24 to 48 hours; therefore, if a beekeeper is not available to collect the bees from a homeowner’s property, the bees will normally leave without causing a problem.

Submit the ‘contact form’ below, and I will receive immediate notification via email through my mobile device. I’ll be in touch with you in short order. Thank you for your notification!

I will be in touch with you ASAP. If I am unable to come get the swarm, I will pass on the information to another beekeeper who can be of help. For swarms in other areas of Kansas outside of my region, please use this list from the NEKBA or Kansas State University link for a list of other beekeepers throughout Kansas that are also looking for a swarm.

Disclaimer.

As a disclaimer, I cannot assume responsibility related to the swarm collection or extraction activity, and I shall be held harmless for any actions or activities related to any honey bee collection, including but not limited to information used, liabilities, or resultant damages, injuries, or bodily harm that might occur. Thank you!

Bee Class for 2018

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Looking for a Beekeeping Class for 2018? 

The Northeastern Kansas Beekeepers Association (NEKBA) Bee Class (both part I & part II combined) is nearly 10 hours of education for new and those looking for a re-fresher in their early years of beginning beekeeping. Several courses will be presented by our keynote speaker, Dr. Dewey Caron, on the 2nd day or part II of the class. Included with each  registration are presenter’s notes. Additional tag-along members or friends are welcome to attend for a nominal registration fee that also includes the presentation notebook. We are a non-profit organization. The fees cover the costs of rent, books and materials, as well as shared costs for our guest speaker.

This event is for beginning & 2nd or even 3rd year
beekeepers or those looking for a re-fresher. We like to say that you’ll learn more the 2nd time around. The class is held on 2 weekends as there is much to offer. Trying to hit on all topics in 1 day is a lot to try to absorb. We want beekeepers to get the most and learn the best way possible.

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Kansas Honey Producers Assn (KHPA) formerly Kansas State Beekeepers

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2018 Spring Meeting Information

Beekeeping – Good Fellowship   SINCE 1903

Exploring the wonderful world of beekeeping together.

THE KANSAS HONEY PRODUCERS’ ASSOCIATION

(formerly k.a. The Kansas State Beekeepers’ Association)

KHPA 2018 Spring Meet Info (download)

Friday and Saturday March 9 & 10 2018

The Cedars Conference Center 1021 Cedars Drive, McPherson KS

 

Our guest speakers will be Dr. Dewey Caron and Randy Oliver.

Dewey M. Caron is a graduate of Cornell University and Emeritus Professor from the University of Delaware. He has received numerous awards and forms of recognition for his teaching and extension work during his career. He has written many books and is one of our favorite guest. Some of his books are Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, Observation Hives-How to set up, maintain and open a window to the world of Honey Bees, Beekeeping Basics and Africanized Honey Bees in the Americas.

Randy Oliver owns and operates a small commercial beekeeping enterprise in the foothills of Grass Valley in Northern California. He and his two sons manage about 1000 colonies for migratory pollination, and produce queens, nucs, and honey. He has over 40 years of

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Northeastern Kansas Beekeepers Association – 2017 Beekeeping Class

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Eager Attendees to the January 2015 Beeswax Soap-making Class

Attendees to the January 2015 Beeswax Soap-making Class held in Lawrence, Kansas

Looking for a Beekeeping Class for 2017? 

Our NEKBA Bee Class (both part I & part II combined) is nearly 10 hours of education for new and those looking for a re-fresher in their early years of beginning beekeeping. Several courses will be presented by our keynote speaker, Keith Delaplane, on the 2nd day or part II of the class. Keith’s book, a field guide, and presenter’s notes are included with each family registration. Additional family members or friends are welcome to attend for a nominal registration fee, which also includes the presentation notebook. We are a non-profit organizations. The fees are calculated to cover the costs of rent, books and materials, as well as shared costs for our keynote speaker.

This event is for beginning & 2nd or even 3rd year beekeepers or those looking for a re-fresher. We like to say that you’ll learn more the 2nd time around. The class is held on 2 weekends as there is much to offer and learn. Trying to hit on all topics in 1 day is a lot to try to absorb. We want beekeepers to get the most and learn the best way possible. Continue reading →

NEKBA Annual Bee Fun Day

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Upcoming Activities

 June 2017 Fun day Meeting

Saturday, June 3rd  2017, 8:45 am until 5:00 pm

Douglas County Fairgrounds – just north on Harper Street and K-10 Hwy

Northeastern Kansas Beekeeper’s Funday

Saturday, June 3rd, 2017 Registration: 7:45-8:45, Program 8:45-5:00

Douglas County Fairgrounds, 2110 Harper, Lawrence KS

Fee includes lunch, beverages, snacks, homemade honey ice cream, and a full day of fun!

Bring your hat & veil—we’ll be working through some hives

Cost: $40.00 per person for those pre-registered, $45.00 at the door.                           Walk-ins are welcome! We do appreciate pre-registrations as this helps with our planning for lunch and seating availability. For those pre-registered, by May 25th, there will be a drawing at the end of the event to reimburse 1 (one) pre-registered person for their registration!    Children ages 6-18, $20.00 for those pre-registered, $25.00 at the door.

For those pre-registered (post marked), by May 25th, there will be a drawing at the end of the event to reimburse 1 (one) pre-registered person for their registration!

Click the following links (below) for information and registration. You can mail, if there is time. If not, print, complete, and bring it with you. See you in Lawrence, KS!

TO BE UPDATED IN EARLY 2017

NEKBAFundayflyer2017    

fundayschedule2016 * Subject to change & pending update for 2017

Visit our website at nekba.org for other club information

Mating biology of honey bees – Book Review

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Mating biology of honey bees (Apis mellifera), by Gudrun Koeniger and Nikolaus Koeniger with Jamie Ellis and Lawrence Connor  

Wicwas Press

1 edition (December 22, 2014) Hardcover: 155 pages.

51fvsy1vcdl-_sx312_bo1204203200_Review by Robert Burns

I just finished reading the book on honey bee mating biology. Wow! Although sex is usually a ‘hot’ topic, I can really appreciate the research and science that has gone into this work. The book has some excellent photographs and charts and diagrams. There’s lots of great science here that explains the bee mating biology in simple terms.

I don’t believe I have read any other book that is a better culmination of the works on the mating happenstances of our wonderfully under-appreciated honey bees. I have my other queen books Bee Sex and Queen Rearing and other guides. However, there hasn’t been quite any other that is more descriptive, especially of the 3rd caste –Drones. The male bees seem to never get enough attention and respect.

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Kansas City’s Urban Grown Farm Tours

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Cultivate Kansas City’s biennial Urban Grown Tour is slated for June 27-28, 2015 to showcase the good food that is growing our city’s neighborhoods and will celebrate 10 years of growth sinDSC00808ce the first tour in 2005!

In the excitement leading up to our own Cultivate Kansas City’s Urban Grown Farms & Gardens Tour this June 27-28, 2015, I’d like to post this information on:

Urban Garden Beekeeping

         Urban gardens are great locations for keeping honeybees as they increase the opportunity for the number of beneficial garden pollinators. They also provide and additional source of local whole food.

Small-scale urban beekeeping contributes to the protection of our vital ecosystem. Keeping bees in an urban garden setting is a small but hugely significant way for a community garden to contribute to the diversity, health, and sustainability of our food growing system. It’s a huge way for a small group of people to make a difference on a big environmental issue. If your community garden wants to host honeybees, you can either (1) Arrange with a local beekeeper to place and maintain a hive or two in the garden, or (2) Start a hive to be maintained by the gardeners themselves.

If you are considering beekeeping for your community garden, may I suggest the following guidelines for starting a honeybee hive:

  • Maintain good relations within the garden and with the surrounding neighborhood.
  • Research any beekeeping ordinance that might apply to your garden.
  • Meet the owner of the property where your garden is located in order to get approval to place a hive there.
  • Determine if your garden is a good place for a beehive
  • Decide the best place to put the hive in the community garden.

One or more gardeners should be selected to manage the beehives in the community garden. They are responsible for making sure the hive is maintained properly and for removing the hive, if necessary.  When in doubt, review other Municipalities as a guideline. Some are actually pretty good.

Below is a link to the City of Overland Park, Kansas, which is where I am from. It’s not the best but it is pretty good. There is a requirement for water for bees, which should stipulate that water should be supplied from March thru October.

http://www.opkansas.org/city-government/overland-park-municipal-code/

 TITLE 06 – Animals

6.14 Beekeeping