Author Archives: Betsy

Better than GPS

By Betsy | Published: May 22, 2010
A dedicated beekeeper / blogger (Sam Smith, whose blog, Bee Crazy, is worth a visit), has posted this video of one of his bees dancing, to tell its nestmates where the good flowers are:
Posted in 2010 blog posts, Beekeeping | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Foundationless beekeeping — the wonder continues

By Betsy | Published: May 20, 2010
Today in the quiet center of the afternoon I ventured again into the inner sanctum of the hive which I had dismantled 13 days ago. That previous experience, chronicled on May 7 in this blog, was distressing: In seeking to rectify the bees’ habit of building wild comb all through the hive box, [...]
Posted in 2010 blog posts, Beekeeping | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Delicacy beyond imagining

By Betsy | Published: May 16, 2010
The bees carry pollen into the mysterious darkness of their hive, mostly to serve as a protein source for feeding the “brood”, or larval bees. The larva, mere helpless curls of living matter, secrete a pheromone which causes adult bees to go out and gather pollen to feed them. If there’s more brood, then [...]
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Brooding

By Betsy | Published: May 11, 2010
She sits there all day and all night, except for one brief outing each morning to consume and excrete. Underneath her are a dozen eggs, warm from long hours of her body heat. The straw they rest in is warm, too. If her instinct holds out long enough, if we’re able to [...]
Posted in 2010 blog posts, Chickens | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Because the beauty of this place…

By Betsy | Published: May 8, 2010
…still takes my breath away.
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