I had a few concept designs created, and while I ultimately chose the one I thought would look the best on an actual jar of honey, the other designs were still amazing. I’ll most likely use them for posters and t-shirts, but I thought I would share the Worker Bee Honey love.
Introducing Worker Bee Honey
I wanted a cool and distinct label for my honey, but I have zero skills as an artist. I had all these ideas in my head on what I wanted though, and the extremely talented Essi Zimm was able to take my ideas based on old Russian propaganda posters and making it a reality.
Filed under beekeeping
Pollen Analysis
For those that are interested in getting a pollen analysis done on your honey, here is the information you need. I just sent off a sample today, and I’ll post the results when I get them.
Pollen extraction and analysis of pollen from honey $50/sample
This includes extraction of pollen from honey, pollen concentration values, a CD of photographs of key pollen types found in the sample, and a complete analysis of the recovered pollen data including probable geographical region where the honey was produced and a list of the primary nectar sources. We generally examine 200-400 pollen grains per sample. When appropriate, we will provide verification documents for export, and interpretations based on pollen coefficient values for the primary taxa present. We generally use 10 grams of honey from each sample but prefer to have additional honey available should we need to reprocess a sample. Therefore, we suggest sending approximately 30-50 grams of honey per sample.
Send sample to:
Vaughn M. Bryant, Professor of Anthropology Director, Palynology Laboratory Department of Anthropology Texas A&M University (TAMU 4352) College Station, TX 77843-4352Filed under beekeeping, pollination
Post-Vacation Hive Check
After two weeks out of the country, I had a chance yesterday to check in on the girls and see how they are doing. I had added an empty super to the hive before we left to be on the safe side. There was some comb drawn out but nothing significant. Everything else looked pretty normal but I did notice a huge increase in the amount of pollen being stored.
Unlike the pollen in the spring and early summer, this pollen is very white. I’d be interested to know what plants are in bloom right now that has white pollen. Austin did have a massive amount of rain last week, so I’m wondering if all the rain lilies are the source of this pollen. My only concern is that they seem to be using cells formally for brood to store this pollen in. There was also a reduction in the number of queen cells as well which is a good sign. At the end of the day, I just have to trust that they know best.
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Chocolate Bees!
We just returned from a two week vacation to India and France. Our last 5 days were spent in Paris. Since Paris has a huge beekeeper population, I was hoping to find some evidence of hives while we explored the city, but I did not have any luck.
However, I did not leave empty handed because of a trip to Patrick Roger Chocolatier. He is known for having amazing window displays made entirely of chocolate, and it was almost like he knew I was coming because his current display is all about the bees.
Filed under beekeeping, food
BeeCam 5000 Mark II
The BeeCam 5000 is back online. The Mark I model only lasted a bit over 3 days with the original battery and solar panel configuation. I had my top scientists work on the problem (thanks Matt!), and after a redesign with a deep cycle battery, it has been redeployed into the field.
So I’ll finally be able to check the bees in the evening with the cooler weather and see if they are still clustering outside the hive.
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Cooler Weather Test
A cold front came through today bringing some random rain showers and much cooler temperatures. I’ll be very interested to see if the bearding on the hive is reduced this evening.
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My Poor Hot Bees
With temperatures hitting up to 105 degrees in the city, even the girls are complaining about the heat. Everything I’ve read seems to indicate it is just too hot for all of them to be in the hive at night. I’ve ordered a screened inner cover to help with ventilation, but it may not get here before the weekend.
There is good news on the horizon as the temperatures are predicted to break by Friday and the highs should be back in the low 90’s. Rain is also a possibility which would be great as Austin is looking a bit dried out after two weeks of hot and dry weather.
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It’s 11:00 p.m. Do you know where your bees are?
Apparently, mine are all hanging outside the hive.
I always just assumed that all the bees went inside the hive at night leaving just a few guard bees at the entrance. Since the temps here are hitting 100+ each day, my best guess is the hive is still too warm for all the girls in the evening. Maybe I need to set the alarm for 3:00 a.m. to see if they are still outside, or if they all finally go inside.
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BeeCam 5000
The BeeCam 5000 will soon be the industry standard in portable yet functional webcam technology for the urban beekeeper of tomorrow. This solar powered beauty eliminates the need for those messy power cords, and uses the power of your wireless internets to stream video 24/7. The infrared camera will allow you to monitor your bees at night as well as capture any night time critters that may be bothering your hive. Developed by my friend Matt, I predict that every beekeeper will soon be installing this baby in their bee yards.
Until I can figure out how to embed the video feed directly into my blog, you can click here for live bee action!
Edit: This link may not work for those folks out there using IE.
Filed under beekeeping
Urban Beekeeping in Austin, Texas 