Beekeepers For Veterans

11/11/2025

Wishing all Veterans a happy Veterans day!! Here are some of the places doing things for yall.

For Veterans Day, here's a list of of more than 90 businesses where veterans and active military personnel can get free food, discounts and more.

08/13/2025

08/13/2025

Australian researchers have discovered that melittin, a molecule in bee venom, destroys 100% of aggressive breast cancer cells, like triple-negative and HER2-enriched types, in under an hour, while sparing healthy cells. This breakthrough could pave the way for more precise and less-toxic cancer treatments.

07/27/2025

https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2025/06/18/backyard-beekeeper-training-takes-flight-across-texas/?&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=addtoany&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0BMQABHh_j-MQqSV7L3rkeWP3Pg1qcFrsAWu8gg1jiKf-JI0sLrlcbWRg-HmaKbrD2_aem_XMCdmIlLMGM5yxdmevuP0Q

Backyard beekeeper training its taking flight across Texas, empowering Texans to manage healthy colonies while protecting their investment.

07/21/2025

A supercedure cell is a type of queen cell, but not all queen cells are supercedure cells.

Here’s a breakdown:

🐝 What is a Queen Cell?

A queen cell is a special wax structure in a beehive where a new queen bee is raised. It’s larger and hangs vertically compared to regular brood cells.

🐝 Types of Queen Cells:

There are three main types:
1. Supercedure Cell
• Purpose: To replace an aging, failing, or damaged queen.
• Location: Usually found in the middle of the brood frame.
• Bees build this cell even if the queen is still present, because they sense she’s not performing well (e.g., poor egg laying, weak pheromone signal).
• Calm, non-panic process.
2. Swarm Cell
• Purpose: To produce a new queen before swarming, when the colony splits and part of it leaves with the old queen.
• Location: Often found along the bottom edges of brood frames.
• Triggered by overcrowding or seasonal cues.
• Multiple swarm cells are common.
3. Emergency Cell
• Purpose: To raise a queen after the current queen is lost suddenly (e.g., beekeeper accidentally killed her).
• Location: Worker cells that are quickly converted into queen cells.
• Rough and rushed appearance.

🔑 In Summary:

A supercedure cell is a queen cell, specifically made to replace a current queen who is failing but still present. All supercedure cells are queen cells, but not all queen cells are supercedure cells.

07/17/2025

Telling the Bees

In an old Western European tradition, bees were seen as part of the household, and needed to be told when major life events happened. Deaths, births, marriages, even someone leaving or returning home, all would be quietly whispered to the hive.

Why? Because forgetting to tell the bees was said to bring misfortune: they might stop making honey, abandon the hive, or even die.

This custom may have roots in Celtic belief, where bees were thought to move between the world of the living and the spirit world. The presence of a bee after death was once seen as a sign the soul was departing.

To share the news, the keeper (often the “goodwife”) would approach the hive, tap gently, and speak softly, letting the bees know, with respect.

This practice was especially common in the 18th and 19th centuries across Western Europe and even carried to the U.S. It may have deeper roots in Celtic lore, where bees were seen as spirit messengers, a belief that adds another layer to the tradition’s quiet power.

It’s a tender, beautiful reminder of how deeply people once honoured the natural world, and the quiet bonds between all living things.

-Woodlarking

07/13/2025

A queen bee mates only once in her life during a special flight called a nuptial flight, where she mates with several male drones. During this event, she stores 5 to 7 million s***m in an organ called the s***matheca. This stored s***m allows her to fertilize eggs for the rest of her life—typically 3 to 5 years—without needing to mate again. This unique reproductive strategy ensures the hive remains productive and thriving

07/04/2025

The Honeybee’s “Waggle Dance”
A honeybee scout returns to the hive. She has found a fantastic patch of flowers, but it’s miles away. How does she tell her sisters exactly where to go? She performs a dance.

How it Works: The “waggle dance” is one of the most sophisticated forms of communication in the insect world. The bee moves in a figure-eight pattern.
The angle of the dance in relation to the sun tells the other bees the direction of the food.
The duration of the “waggling” part of the dance tells them the exact distance.
The Message: It’s a living GPS, a dance that says, “Fly 2 miles, 30 degrees to the right of the sun, and you’ll find the best nectar!”
Read more: https://bitl.to/4lNs

06/07/2025

DID YOU KNOW???

✅✅That's fascinating! Bees do need rest, just like us. They typically sleep:

- 5-8 hours a day, often in flowers or nests
- Forage and work during daylight hours
- Conserve energy for next day's activities

✅✅Bees' busy lives involve:

- Collecting nectar and pollen
- Pollinating flowers
- Communicating with hive members

✅✅Their rest is crucial for maintaining energy and ensuring the colony's survival.

06/01/2025

Can you find the queen? She’s a beauty! We don’t always see her during an inspection so it’s special when we do. As long as we see signs that the hive is thriving, no need to worry.