https://northcookinglake.com/courses/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/building-nucs-copy.pngbuilding-nucs-copy2024-03-20T23:45:39+00:00weekly0.6https://northcookinglake.com/2024/02/13/learn-how-to-keep-bees/2024-02-13T17:20:48+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/shop-online/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/flyingbees-copy.jpgflyingbees-copy2024-02-13T16:38:13+00:00weekly0.6https://northcookinglake.com/about/2024-02-13T16:28:41+00:00weekly0.6https://northcookinglake.com/2022/03/17/back-to-school/2023-01-28T17:53:46+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2020/11/28/new-online-store/2021-07-04T03:33:55+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2021/02/07/beanstalk-honey-is-now-teaching-courses/2021-07-04T03:21:53+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/contact-us/2020-03-26T20:58:44+00:00weekly0.6https://northcookinglake.com/2020/03/17/honey-sales/2020-03-17T17:07:58+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2019/05/25/farmers-markets/2019-05-25T16:50:44+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2018/11/25/another-year/2018-11-25T18:05:41+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2011/09/22/robbing-bees/2018-03-12T16:51:50+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2012/04/21/the-bees-are-flying/2018-03-12T16:50:47+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2012/08/23/where-dandelion-honey-comes-from/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/dans-yard-with-dandelion.jpgDan's yard with dandelion2018-03-12T16:49:54+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2015/07/13/fresh-wildflower-honey/2018-03-12T16:49:23+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2013/11/23/quick-update/2018-03-12T16:35:31+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2015/01/02/beanstalk-honey-at-the-old-strathcona-farmers-market/2018-03-12T16:11:28+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2015/11/27/not-at-the-market-tomorrow/2018-03-12T16:10:48+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2015/07/13/where-to-find-this-fresh-wildflower-honey/2018-03-12T16:10:24+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2015/12/26/old-strathcona-market/2018-03-12T16:09:31+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2016/07/09/fresh-honey/2018-03-12T16:09:09+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2016/09/30/moving-stalls-at-strathcona-market/2018-03-12T16:08:40+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2018/03/12/seedy-sunday/2018-03-12T16:08:01+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2017/04/23/winter-update/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img_20170410_164242408_hdr.jpgIMG_20170410_164242408_HDRhttps://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img_20170420_143312512.jpgIMG_20170420_143312512https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img_20170420_143002213.jpgIMG_20170420_143002213https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img_20170419_1727353341.jpgIMG_20170419_172735334https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img_20170419_131032065.jpgIMG_20170419_131032065https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img_20170419_131022510.jpgIMG_20170419_131022510https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img_20170405_170520865.jpgIMG_20170405_170520865https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/img_20170419_172735334.jpgIMG_20170419_1727353342017-04-23T17:34:11+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2016/05/22/the-bees-this-year/2017-04-10T00:53:21+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2017/04/09/spring-update/2017-04-10T00:50:35+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2015/03/23/winter-holiday/2015-11-27T22:13:59+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2014/01/15/504/2014-01-15T17:43:32+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2013/04/19/hello-spring/2013-04-19T20:09:46+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2012/07/02/queen-breeding-and-nuc-building/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/img_4207.jpgFour Frame Nuc BoxThis is my other type of nuc box. It's a standard sized box cut in half. The advantage of this kind is there's no chance of the queens mixing and killing each other and the nucs are so tiny they're easy to move around. But they become specialized equipment: they can't be used for anything else but nucs. https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/img_4193.jpgIMG_4193A completed nuc. This four-frame nuc is in a standard sized box that I divided with a sheet of melamine so I could fit two nucs in one box. I used a feed bag as an inner cover to minimize the chance of a queen from one side getting into the other side. https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/img_4197.jpgBuilding NucsHere I'm going through the bottom brood chamber of one of my over-wintered hives selecting frames of brood to place into the nucs. The nuc in on the far left, the red box. https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/img_4209.jpgPutting the queen cells in the nucs.Queen cells in the nucs.https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/img_42101.jpgFrame of queen cellsThis is the specialized frame for breeding queens. Each cell on the bottom will hatch a queen. This is a very bad example of what a frame of queen cells should look like because there is too much wax on all the cells. 2012-07-02T21:01:44+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2012/05/22/those-stinkin-skunks/2012-05-22T20:53:15+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2012/05/22/now-on-twitter/2012-05-22T20:16:03+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2011/10/12/in-the-field-with-the-bees/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/img_3884.jpgBombusCheck out the native bumblebee nest! See the honey pots in the center bottom?https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/img_3889.jpgWatch out for crawling bees!Watch out for crawling bees! The blown-off bees land on the ground and crawl back to their hive if they don't feel like flying. They like to crawl up, so if they met my boots, up they crawled. Apparenly duct taping is key to making sure they bees can't crawl under the coverall cuffs. Tucking the coveralls into the boots works too; bees don't like crawling down. https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/img_3904_2.jpgLoading boxesDan then took the bee-less boxes of honey and stacked them on the truck, ready to be hauled off to the extracting room.https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/img_3910.jpgIMG_3910https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/img_3909.jpgMy jobBlowing bees was mostly my job because there is no heavy lifting. On occassion, I may have fallen asleep while blowing bees. It gets a bit repetitive. https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/img_3902.jpgBlowing BeesThen we blow the bees off with a reverse-vacuum cleaner thing, creatively called a "bee blower."https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/img_3896.jpgChecking more boxeshttps://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/img_3887.jpgChecking framesFirst we check the frames of honey to make sure it's ready to be taken away for extraction.2011-11-10T02:47:00+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2011/08/19/salisbury-market/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/first-market-stall.jpgSalisbury Market StallSalisbury Market Stall2011-08-19T20:41:34+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2011/05/26/presentation-on-the-weekend-the-birds-return/2011-05-30T23:36:38+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2011/05/05/the-dead-hive-mystery-part-2/2011-06-05T14:17:19+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2011/04/04/and-then-there-are-the-vegetables/2011-05-30T23:46:27+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2011/04/04/315/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/bee-bits1.jpgbee bitshttps://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/bee-bits.jpgbee bitshttps://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/all-frames.jpgDead Hive2011-05-31T13:55:29+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/06/23/introduced-new-queen/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_3376.jpgHoney BeeDandelions are the first major nectar flow of the season.https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_3333.jpgCaged QueenThe queen comes in a cage with a few attendant bees. The white on the left is the candy, which the bees eat to release the queen.https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_33313.jpgNormal Brood Combhttps://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_33312.jpgIMG_3331https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_33311.jpgNormal Brood CombNormal brood comb: the capped cells are flat and evenly distributed across the frame with few empty cells.https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_3340.jpgBalling around Queen CageThe queen cage is in the upper center, obscured by the ball of bees.https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_3331.jpgNormal Brood Combhttps://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_33281.jpgDrone CombDrone cells in centre left, indicative of a drone layer.2011-03-10T01:52:17+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/08/12/grab-bag-deliveries/2011-03-10T01:48:35+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/07/24/vegetables-available/2011-03-10T01:48:09+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2011/02/11/sustainable-agriculture/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/img_3444.jpgRunning dog https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/img_36522.jpgbeehiveOne of my beehives. I’ve never overwintered bees before so I don’t know if this set-up will work. It’s 1” foam board held over two brood chambers with a black strap. I put the inner hive cover over them, then stacked the unpainted box ontop, filling it with dead leaves. I put the outer hive cover over the dead leaves. There is still heat coming out of both hives so I guess the bees are doing okay. We’ll see how they look come springtime.https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/img_36371.jpgIMG_3637This is the little cabin we were working on building in the fall. It’s not done so we are not living in it yet. We were lucky to even get the exterior done in time for winter!https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/img_36521.jpgbeehiveOne of my beehives. I’ve never overwintered bees before so I don’t know if this set-up will work. It’s 1” foam board held over two brood chambers with a black strap. I put the inner hive cover over them, then stacked the unpainted box ontop, filling it with dead leaves. I put the outer hive cover over the dead leaves. There is still heat coming out of both hives so I guess the bees are doing okay. We’ll see how they look come springtime. https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/img_3652.jpgbeehive https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/img_3637.jpgMid January2011-05-31T03:30:49+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/06/23/cow-manure/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_3397.jpgWestern tailed blueWestern tailed bluehttps://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/img_3356.jpgTiger Salamander in the CompostIt's about the best photo I managed to get.2011-02-12T06:12:30+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/05/20/fenugreek-as-cover-crop/2012-03-26T04:16:08+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/05/20/65/2011-02-12T06:10:46+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/08/16/long-awaited-update/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/img_3436.jpgChickens eating ant larvaehttps://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/img_3463.jpgPatty pan squash and two types of zucchini2011-02-12T06:10:22+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/09/19/tail-of-the-season/2011-02-12T06:05:17+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/05/27/queen-bees/2010-06-05T05:53:30+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.com/2010/05/08/the-bees-have-arrived/https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/img_4144.jpgIMG_4144https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/img_4157.jpgIMG_4157https://northcookinglake.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/img_4161.jpgIMG_41612010-05-20T22:52:27+00:00monthlyhttps://northcookinglake.comdaily1.02024-03-20T23:45:39+00:00