Welcome - Explore my Blog

I've been keeping this blog for all of my beekeeping years and I am beginning my 19th year of beekeeping in April 2024. Now there are more than 1300 posts on this blog. Please use the search bar below to search the blog for other posts on a subject in which you are interested. You can also click on the "label" at the end of a post and all posts with that label will show up. At the very bottom of this page is a list of all the labels I've used.

Even if you find one post on the subject, I've posted a lot on basic beekeeping skills like installing bees, harvesting honey, inspecting the hive, etc. so be sure to search for more once you've found a topic of interest to you. And watch the useful videos and slide shows on the sidebar. All of them have captions. Please share posts of interest via Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

I began this blog to chronicle my beekeeping experiences. I have read lots of beekeeping books, but nothing takes the place of either hands-on experience with an experienced beekeeper or good pictures of the process. I want people to have a clearer picture of what to expect in their beekeeping so I post pictures and write about my beekeeping saga here.Master Beekeeper Enjoy with me as I learn and grow as a beekeeper.

Need help with an Atlanta area swarm? Visit Found a Swarm? Call a Beekeeper. ‪(404) 482-1848‬

Want to Pin this post?

Monday, May 14, 2012

It All Adds Up

**





















  • 0: the number of chemicals or pesticides I use in my hive.
  • of an inch: bee space.
  • 1: the number of queens in most beehives
  • 1: the number of times a worker bee can sting
  • 2 days: the amount of time in which a larva can still become a queen if fed royal jelly
  • 3 times a month: the number of times I inspect bee hives during bee season
  • 3: the number of segments to a honey bee body.
  • 4 minutes: the amount of time it takes for a honey bee to remove and manipulate a scale of wax exuded from the abdomen of a bee (4th to 7th abdominal segments if you are interested!)
  • 4 - 5 pounds: the approximate weight of a full medium frame of honey
  • 4.9 mm: the width of a natural-comb worker brood cell.
  • 5 : number of eyes on a honey bee
  • 7:  the number of hives I have in my Virginia Highlands backyard
  • 8 feet:  the average height of a wild colony inside a tree
  • 8: the number of frames I use in my hive bodies
  • 9 ODA:  9-oxodecenoic acid or queen substance - queen pheromone
  • 10 nails: the number required to build a frame properly
  • 10 - 15 trips a day:  the number of times nectar and pollen gatherers fly out
  • 12 - 25 days:  The age of most guard bees
  • 16 days:  the number of days it takes for a queen to emerge
  • 17: the number of states having the honey bee as the state insect
  • 17 - 30: the number of drones needed for a well-mated queen
  • 18.6% moisture: the maximum moisture content a honey can have and not ferment.
  • 20 times its own weight: the amount of honey a comb can support
  • 21: Current number of Master Beekeepers who have earned their certification from the Young Harris Beekeeping Institute
  • 21 days: the number of days it takes for a worker to emerge
  • 24 days:  the number of days it takes for a drone to emerge
  • 24 km/h: average honey bee flight speed
  • 25: the number of talks I’ve given to bee clubs and others since January 2011
  • 36: the number of days from egg to sexual maturity for the drone
  • 40 liters: the size of a hive cavity
  • 56:  the number of workers a single worker touches with her antennae in 30 minutes
  • 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit:  the temperature of the core of the brood nest in a hive
  • 120 degrees: the angle between adjacent cell walls in honeycomb
  • 600-800 meters: the average distance a swarm moves from its parent colony
  • 800 km:  The distance a forager accumulates in foraging flights before her death
  • 1000:  The number of posts on this blog as of this very moment!
  • Infinite: The amount of joy and pleasure I get from beekeeping and the amazing  people and experiences that it brings to my life............




**Many thanks to Noah Macey for all the help he gave me with this post.

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:48 PM

    Linda,
    CONGRATULATIONS on reaching 1000 posts on your wonderful blog. I've followed your adventures, highs and lows, and rejoiced right along with you in your triumphs almost since the beginning! I feel like I've come to know your family and your fellow beeks, your hives and even the bees. All the best throughout this year, your lectures and shows, competitions to come, and your beekeeping journey. Thanks for sharing so faithfully for six years!

    A friend in NC
    Chantal

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous3:58 PM

    Fun post! Congratulations, I love to follow along on your beekeeping adventures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Penny8:08 AM

    Congratulations, Linda! You are so generous to share your beekeeping experiences with us over the years. Thanks for bringing us along through all the learning-- it does add up to a great amount for all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:03 PM

    Big Congratulations on the BIG 1000!!!
    I must eco the previous 'replies' in saying that I have followed you from very early and enjoyed the ups and felt with you in the downs (which are also ups in the learning curve :-).
    But mainly ditto in the thnks for you dedication and sharing! You are a wonderful educator. keep em coming.
    Warren

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations! And THANK YOU! Yours was the first beekeeping blog that really grabbed and held my attention, Linda. Please know you have a special place in the history of the happy resurgence of beekeeping in the early part of the 21st century!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Congratulations on 1000 posts! Amazing!

    Fun post, too! Thanks for all the info :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulating you belatedly my dear sister! You amaze me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous7:19 PM

    Infinite joy? You're going to have to show your math there. Given that the fundamental particle of joy (the joyino) must have greater than zero mass, infinite joy is simply untenable - beekeepers around the world would be collapsing into singularities in bursts of exotic particles and intense radiation.

    The joyino flux from beekeeping must be quantified, Science demands an answer!

    ;-]

    ReplyDelete

Pin this post

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...