Beekeep Flat Stanley

convinced us that he should not

become smoker fuel.

Week 45 #1. While more stingers would have been more poetic, we settled for less ouch.

Week 45 #1.

While more stingers would

have been more poetic, we

settled for less ouch.

Week 38 #2. While admittedly cute on bees, I’m rather glad my tongue’s not see-through.

Week 38 #2.

While admittedly

cute on bees, I’m rather glad

my tongue’s not see-through.

Week 36 #1. No suit? No problem! There’ll be no stings from our mellow yellow hive. **** There’s nothing special in Karl’s smoker - these Minnesota Hygienic hybrid bees are just naturally laid back. The new queen (dubbed Knives 2.0, who replaced Knives the first, who in turn overthrew the original Queen Ramona in the great Scott-Pilgrim-themed smackdown of ‘11) has produced the mellowest bees in the history of our backyard. They also have a tendency to put tons of propolis everywhere. It’s fascinating to see the variations in behavior among different types of honeybees.

Week 36 #1.

No suit? No problem!

There’ll be no stings from our

mellow yellow hive.

****

There’s nothing special in Karl’s smoker - these Minnesota Hygienic hybrid bees are just naturally laid back. The new queen (dubbed Knives 2.0, who replaced Knives the first, who in turn overthrew the original Queen Ramona in the great Scott-Pilgrim-themed smackdown of ‘11) has produced the mellowest bees in the history of our backyard. They also have a tendency to put tons of propolis everywhere. It’s fascinating to see the variations in behavior among different types of honeybees.

Week 32 #3.

Starting in ‘96, a new trend:

small hive beetles with which to contend.

But these could not escape

from a quite crushing fate

when they chose this harvest to attend.

Week 32 #2.

Lovely on the comb,

so delicious in cocktails.

We’ll stick with honey.

Week 31 #4.

Basic surf wax seemed

boring, but was cured by an

herbal infusion.

****

Apparently this* is what happens when my beekeeping friend and I decide to use up some of last year’s beeswax after drinking champagne.

*rosemary-infused surf wax

Honey harvests can be too much of a good thing for unlucky bees.

Honey harvests can

be too much of a good thing

for unlucky bees.

Tags | A700 | backyard | beekeeping | bees | haiku | insect | bugs | food |

Week 18 #2. Goodbye, Marge. I’ll miss your honey, but not your stings.

One of the backyard beehives Africanized itself, so Karl got a lesson in packing up a beehive full of thousands of very, very angry bees for transport.

Fun fact: The best time to move a beehive is at night, which is also the time when successful bee rustlers go to work.

Week 16 #1. The first beehive checkup of the year ended on an unexpectedly painful note.

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