May 20, 2013

Bees Along for the Ride

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By Amanda West The day finally came when I received my very own bees: a ‘nucleus’ of bees, which is a small hive of a queen bee and her workers and drones, already set up house on five frames, ready to move into their new digs. It’s the best way to get bees as their [...]

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Close Encounters of a Bee Kind

QueenBeesChamber(c)AmandaWest

By Amanda West / Photos by Amanda West Last Saturday I attended my second beekeeping class. I continued my fascination with bees as I learned more about ‘husbanding’ this tiniest of domesticated creatures. Honeybees cannot live without human interaction: an outbreak of a parasite called the varroa mite in the last decade effectively wiped out [...]

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The Secrets of Bees

Happy Bees on a Frame - making honey

By Amanda West/ Photos by Amanda West I’ve always thought bees were mysterious and wonderful. And when I began to pursue my interests in local and sustainable farming, I considered bees as probably the smallest animal husbandry option available. Later, when I found out at this year’s Rooting DC garden event that urban beekeeping was [...]

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