During my last beekeeper class, I got to taste my first honey direct from the comb. I'll get to that in a minute. But first we learned about the main job of a beekeeper - swarm control.   Why does a honeybee colony swarm? The first factor has to do with the age of the queen. Here's a rule of thumb. In her first year, she will not swarm. In her second year, she will probably swarm. In her third year, she will definitely swarm. The second reason a colony swarms is because they need more room. But let's discuss the...

What happened to Spring? Too cold for me and much too cold for the bees. It should be at least 12 degrees Celsius before you open a beehive. And seeing as the thermometer in my car on the way to my bee class read 6 degrees, we weren't going to get a peak in the hive. Instead, about 15 of us huddled in the beekeeping clubhouse to learn about the different breeds of bees, frame sizes and where to best place a beehive.    We discussed three of the most popular races of honey bees, not very many considering that there...

I am so happy that I have the opportunity to be a part of a beekeeping class offered by the beekeeping club of Konstanz. Yesterday afternoon was my second class so I have a lot to catch you up on. But first, a little bit of Greek Mythology which our instructor shared during our first class. Did you know that Zeus, the god of the sky and the ruler of the gods, was raised on honey? The story goes that Cronus, the father of Zeus, ate each of his children after they were born as he feared that they would overthrow...