News 2015 — Honey bees

It was a glorious day in April and we were in the middle of a sunny orange grove in the heart of California’s citrus belt tending our bees. Life could not be sweeter for a beekeeper. The heady scent of orange blossoms made us weak in the knees as we moved from hive to hive, peeking inside, making sure our honey bees were healthy, happy, and bringing in nectar. The beauty of bees in an orange grove is they can fly for miles and miles and just bring back nectar from the waxy white blossoms. This way we know our...

Earth Day is an annual event, celebrated on April 22, on which day events worldwide are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was first celebrated in 1970, and is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network,[1] and celebrated in more than 192 countries each year.[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_DayOn behalf of all of us at Bill's Bees we wish you a happy, peaceful Earth Day. "Keep close to Nature’s heart ... and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” -- John Muir The following is an excerpt from...

You’ve got your bees! You’ve got your box! Now What?Hopefully, you were successful in installing your bee packages. Now we’re going to take a look inside the hive. You’ll find the queen and her eggs and identify the progressive stages of growth. You’ll be able to compare the progress of your new bees to see how they’re doing. Join us on April 19th (9am-noon) at Bill’s Bees Bee Yard for Class #3 of the Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association Beekeeping Class 101. "I liked the ABeeC's Beginning Beekeeping article by Phill Remick "Blind Leading the Blind," says Bill. It's reprinted...

In our first Beekeeping Class 101 session we talked about the location for your hive, what the bees will need, and suggestions for informative reading for beginning beekeepers. We also went over the beekeeping equipment, supplies and protective clothing: What you need, and what you don’t! Here’s the list of all you’ll really need to get started in beekeeping: Basic Essentials List for Beginning Beekeepers: The Hive - Langstroth (from the bottom up): Hive Stand - This is a platform to keep the hive off the ground. It improves circulation, reduces dampness in the hive, and helps keep ants, bugs, leaves,...

By Tracey Samuelson, Featured on Marketplace, March 2, 2015 (Click here for Radio Interview) 17:15 Bill Lewis is waiting for the sun to set, the time of day when his bees crawl back inside the short white boxes that house their colonies. As the sky turns pink behind the San Gabriel mountains, on the outskirts of Los Angeles, Lewis climbs into the seat of a forklift and starts moving the hives onto the back of a flatbed truck. These bees are on the move.                                      ...