Athens TX beekeeper - Royal Lizzies Apiary

08/30/2024

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07/24/2024

Our new page is Birds and Bees in Athens TX. Been trying to delete this one...

05/11/2024

Big cut out in Baxter today. Lots of bees!

06/12/2021

Took a peek into the hives to see how production was coming along- we have had lots of nectar flows going on but lots of rain too. The bees had lots of uncapped honey which means they haven't gotten the moisture content low enough so it will keep once its capped and its because of all the rain! I'll give em a couple weeks of "normal" hot dry days and peek in on em again. On a side note they were pretty calm right up until I fired up the w**d whacker and cleared around their hives, then they became my normal angry, unappreciative ladies I've come to expect. But they didn't get me!

05/09/2021

04/23/2021

I haven't had the best of luck increasing my hive count using traditional beekeeping methods- splits, buying queens etc. This year i decided to try a "natural" approach.
In the wild bees "split" their hives by producing another queen and while she is is on her "mating" flight the old queen and a substantial amount of followers pack their bags (they load up on everything they need to start a new hive) and go shopping for a new place to live. This is what you are looking at when you see a cluster of bees on a tree limb, street sign, or even a parked car. Scouts are out looking for the right place to settle down and start fresh.
Earlier this year in going through the hives I saw where they were building queen cells and where previously I removed them this year I left them and placed several "nucs" (small hive boxes) around the area where our bee yard is. The hope was when they did swarm they would move in to a nuc (they are partially furnished after all) and I would increase my hive count naturally. It was taking a chance that I would not catch them but in this case - SUCCESS! plus it didn't cost me anything. Woohoo!

03/30/2021

Feeding the girls today and saw this excellent example of a honey bee frame.

01/10/2021

Baby it's cold outside

12/22/2020

Merry Christmas!

11/13/2020

A Bear roaming the woods in search of berries happened on a fallen tree in which a swarm of Bees had stored their honey. The Bear began to nose around the log very carefully to find out if the Bees were at home. Just then one of the swarm came home from the clover field with a load of sweets. Guessing what the Bear was after, the Bee flew at him, stung him sharply and then disappeared into the hollow log.

The Bear lost his temper in an instant, and sprang upon the log tooth and claw, to destroy the nest. But this only brought out the whole swarm. The poor Bear had to take to his heels, and he was able to save himself only by diving into a pool of water.

It is wiser to bear a single injury in silence than to provoke a thousand by flying into a rage.

Fables of Aesop

09/03/2020

https://m.thechronicle.com.au/news/bee-venom-kills-cancer-study/4090771/

Venom from the garden-variety honeybee is effective at killing breast cancer cells, as Aussie scientist discovered in an astonishing study.