Author Archives: Nathan

As of October 27th, 2014: 16 hives are under the Rausch family jurisdiction . (9 Langstroth, 7 Warre) 2 hives have died since Spring (1 Warre was clogged w/dead bees; 1 Langstroth died as a result of a poorly mated new queen) Sources for … Continue reading →

Survival through spring brood up was hard this year.  Most of my bees made it through January, but then died off as the weather warmed. As of May 1st, 2014: 7 hives are under the Rausch family jurisdiction (28% survival). … Continue reading →

As of September 23rd, 2013: 25 hives are under the Rausch family jurisdiction (official ownership of Nathan, Abigail, or Joel) 11 different locations Ages: 4 from 2011 4 from 2012 17 from 2013 (11 from swarms; 3 from splits; 1 … Continue reading →

Thank you, Bill, for sending me this article: Scientists discover what’s killing the bees and it’s worse than you thought When researchers collected pollen from hives on the east coast pollinating cranberry, watermelon and other crops and fed it to … Continue reading →

  My usual approach is to collect the airborne foragers first, and then remove the nest at the end.  This gives the returning wasps the visual feedback to fly to their usual entrance, where the vacuum captures them. More photos … Continue reading →

Watch me collect a swarm from 15 ft up a tree with a bucket and extension pole.  All the remaining bees moved to the box in order to follow the queen.

  The main cluster went into the box from the top, the rest walked in from below.  I closed up the bottom after they were done walking in.  Watch these bees march off the grass into their hive:

There is a stand of old trees behind the hotel where this swarm was collected.  Many of the trees look like they could host feral bees.  The queen had already laid eggs in the small piece of comb drawn where … Continue reading →

9 Overwintered hives hosted in other backyards. 5 bait hives placed with my backyard hosts with hives named: Emily, Emma, Jackie, Lisa, & Lucy. 8 Mason bee blocks & cocoons placed for spring (7 backyard hosts + my own home) … Continue reading →