re: 2022 Spring Garden Thread

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Here is an old thread from a couple of years ago where some people talked bees. It hasn't been updated in a while though.

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Thanks, I’m going to be reading through that. The poster Bee Man seems to be very knowledgeable.
This post is exactly what I’m planning on doing this spring.

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There are many ways to make a split, but one is to remove at least three frames of eggs, pollen and honey from your hive (being sure that the queen is not on the frames) and place them in a nuc box with a couple empty frames. They will make a new queen, and just like that, you have a new hive.

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I purchased a good nuc box and plan on attempting to make a nuc colony this way. I have several people I know that are interested in getting started with bees and hopefully I’ll be able to help them out by providing them some this year.

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Where did you get your hive Pillage?

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The actual bees, or the boxes and frames?

ETA: I guess I could just answer both here. I bought boxes on Amazon. They are Amish made brand. And I ordered a package of Italian bees from Mountain Sweet Honey out of Georgia.

When I was first getting interested in beekeeping, and after I read the books, I really had no clue on local resources. So I took to the internet. After I bought the box and frames and pre-ordered the bees, then I started finding local resources. It just took me talking to people and asking around. So if I had to start over, I wouldn’t rush into just buying stuff online. But it worked out well, so I can’t complain.

I’ve seen some of those at home mushroom growing kits and considered trying them. I have no experience but would love to grow my own button and portobellos. You should definitely try them and keep us updated.

Amish Made in USA Complete 8 Frame Langstroth Bee Hive includes Frames and Foundations (2 Deep, 1 Medium)

This is what I bought. Came with the frames and a screened bottom board which is what I wanted. I also purchased a screened inner cover separately. With our hot and humid summers in Louisiana that was what many people recommended getting in order to give them enough ventilation during the summer months.

I went with an 8 frame hive because after reading both of the books they recommended that if you’d be mostly doing hive inspections solo, 8 frame boxes would be easier to manage cause 10 frame boxes can get really heavy when full. I’ll say this, The Backyard Beekeeper book was written by a woman. I wish I would’ve realized the perspective of the author. A full 8 frame box is pretty heavy, but I can handle it easily as a full grown man. I can’t imagine 2 more frames would make it unmanageable for me. I wish I would’ve just gotten a 10 frame hive. I may eventually move them over into one.

ETA: I stand corrected. Kim Flottum, author of The Backyard Beekeeper, is not a woman. Kim is apparently a man. I still stand by my opinion.

For anyone with citrus trees, now is the time to fertilize.

Page 8 has the fertilization schedule.
LSU Ag Louisiana home citrus production pdf

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For anyone with citrus trees, now is the time to fertilize.

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I still get my phone alerts to fertilize my satsuma, just too lazy to delete the schedule

I set it for valentine's day, memorial day, and labor day.

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For anyone with citrus trees, now is the time to fertilize.

Page 8 has the fertilization schedule.

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Plan on it this weekend.

I fear I may have lost mine in the successive freezes. They are young and while I covered them, they do not look healthy.

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Scratch the bark and see if it's still green. If it is, they may come back.

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My man!

All 6 are alive still.

Lemon looks fine. The lime may be fine too - just wait and see. Sometimes after a freeze they will drop all of their leaves and sprout back. One of my lemons has looked like that before and it bounced back.

I potted up all of my peppers and tomatoes this weekend. Hoping to plant out in a month or so. I will also probably start squash and zucchini this week.

Half of my peppers didn't germinate. No shishito or jimmy nardello. I think there is something wrong with my storage methods. I overwintered a jimmy nardello plant but I got drunk and left it outside last night during the frost. Hopefully it makes it alright because that's my favorite pepper and I've got no seedlings.

I also didn't realize I was out of Fred's Tie Dye seeds until it was too late, so this year I started new big dwarf, pink berkeley tie dye, and brad's atomic grape. I've tried the brad's variety twice and seedlings have died. I think I may have a bad seed batch. I'll get cherokee purple and big beef from the feed store when it comes time to plant.