Welcome to my first post in my new BeeKeeping category!
I decided to open this category with a video of me removing the entrance restrictor on my honeybee hive. I'm removing it without smoke, a veil or any type of protection.
Yes, I'm braving the wrath of the bees!
I have the restrictor, actually it was a complete cover, on the hive because I tried to change my hive from a bottom entrance to a top entrance by blocking the bottom entrance with a piece of wood. The honeybees are determined and the chewed through some wood to create their own entrance. Most of the bees have refused to use the top entrance.
Since over here in Mexico we've entered the early blooming season, I've decided that it will be best to take off the hive's entrance restrictor so that the bees can do their work unimpeded. They're out there in the desert working away and bringing in some decent amounts of pollen for the first time this year. Without the entrance restrictor the bees will be more efficient workers and the bees making my honey is a lot more important to me than the way I want their hive to be.
Enjoy the video and wish me luck!
Submitted by cactii on February 20, 2010 - 12:30am.
Glad to hear you're taking the plunge and going the natural approach Roger. I too am trying to be 100% natural. I build my own hives and frames so I built modified Dadant type frames so that I could run my hives without having to use a wax foundation. I really do think that chemicals will build up in the wax and think that the bees know how to make their own perfectly. It's like Top Bar Hives - but in a regular box.
Submitted by Roger (not verified) on February 19, 2010 - 7:51am.
Good to see your hive. I linked to this from your visit to the biobees forum.
I'm up in the northern sonoran desert on the US end of the desert, up by Phoenix. An urban dweller but it is still the desert, even though most city folks don't realize it.
We are just setting up our first hive to see if we can do this in our neighborhood - and do it in a natural sort of way. I sure don't think the chemicals do anything but harm in the long run.
So, the family is willing to go along and give it a try.
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