Author Archives: David LaFerney

A Beginners Guide to Essential BeeKeeping Equipment

Posted on January 4, 2013 by David LaFerney

This post has been previously published on Cookevillebeekeepers.com but contains seasonally relevant information. Honey bees are cavity nesters, and they will make their home inside of all kinds of things – hollow trees, walls, empty oil drums, water meter boxes … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Keeping Equipment | 10 Comments

Confessions of a Bad Bee Keeper

Posted on December 5, 2012 by David LaFerney

I have not been a good bee keeper this year.  I failed to prioritize enough time during the main part of the season to keep my bees healthy, happy and productive.  My sorry excuses for not finding time to take … Continue reading →

Posted in Honey Bee How to | 1 Comment

When Good Bees go Bad

Posted on August 3, 2012 by David LaFerney

This article was originally posted in June 2011, but contains seasonally relevant information. Whenever there isn’t a good flow on (like now and throughout the rest of the summer) strong honey bee hives will often rob weak hives – if … Continue reading →

Posted in Honey Bee How to, Learn about Bee Keeping, Seasonal | 4 Comments

Ed Holcomb on Maximum Honey

Posted on July 26, 2012 by David LaFerney

Mr Holcomb is Mid Tennessee’s resident expert on maximum honey production per hive.  If I remember correctly the average per hive production in TN is around 35 pounds (about 10 quarts) Mr. Holcomb’s standard is about 3 times that.  If … Continue reading →

Posted in Honey Bee How to | 1 Comment

Swarmy Day in May

Posted on May 6, 2012 by David LaFerney

Wednesday afternoon I went down to the bee yard and found this: It’s a little early in the season for this degree of bearding, but it is a big strong hive that I hope makes lots of honey.  Anyway, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Swarms | 4 Comments

Simple way to Tie in Comb

Posted on April 26, 2012 by David LaFerney

  If you ever do bee removals you might have to attach natural comb into a hive setup.  This is just one of many ways.  Probably one of the easier ways for top bar hives. Don’t Forget – We will … Continue reading →

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Installing Your New Bees

Posted on April 22, 2012 by David LaFerney

This has actually been mentioned before, but I know that at least one person who got bees tonight did not know…   The nucleus hives that many of you bought with our club order are made up with Deep frames – … Continue reading →

Posted in Honey Bee How to, Learn about Bee Keeping | 12 Comments

Making Increase

Posted on April 5, 2012 by David LaFerney

Making increase is how bee keepers refer to expanding their stocks.  Not so long ago all bee keepers made increase because they couldn’t just order some bees and let someone else do it for them.  Somewhere along the line things … Continue reading →

Posted in Honey Bee How to | 5 Comments

Easy Nuc

Posted on April 3, 2012 by David LaFerney

If you have bees you need a nucleus hive, but we’ve already talked about that.  This is about how you can build a nucleus hive easily and economically – for about $15.   This is a 5 frame medium nuc, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Keeping Equipment | 2 Comments

NOTICE: European Foul Brood found across state

Posted on March 21, 2012 by David LaFerney

This message is being forwarded at Mike Studer’s request. Please take notice. From: Mike.Studer@tn.gov To: Mike.Studer@tn.gov; jskinner@utk.edu Subject: Disease alert Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 02:41:51 +0000 Beekeeping Association Presidents, Please inform the members of your association to be vigilant … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments