Welcome to our photo page. Please scroll down for photos from our Honeybee Garden

The colonies from left to right: Queen Victoria, Queen Francesca, Queen Celeste and Queen Latifa photo DML 2007

Above, the colonies. with three supers each, April, 2009 photo DML

Above, Lucas, age 12, places the smoker on the work stand. Lucas is interested in becoming a beekeeper, and this is his first visit to a beeyard. Our photographer, Lucas's mom, Norma Jean is a Kindergarten teacher. She has invited me several times to give a program on Honey Bees and beekeeping to her class, which is always a pleasure. photos, Norma Jean, June 2011

Above, we take a look in the Hive Top Feeder. This is a new colony of Carniolan bees from Northern California. I show Lucas the honeycomb 'ladder' the bees have built to travel to and from the feeder. June 2011

Above, Lucas, at right, and I examine the progress of comb building, checking to see how many frames have been pulled out. These girls still have a bit of building to do, so the feeder will go back on. June 2011

Above, looking toward the garden and Beeyard, which lie behind the Elaeagnus hedge. photo DML Below, the same view dressed for winter.

Above, same view of the hedge, following a snowfall, 8 inches overnight February 12, 2010 photo HEL

Above, Poppies and Thyme in the garden. photo DML 2011

, Above. our experiment for March 2010. My article on this Swarm trap experiment appeared in the June 2011 issue of Bee Culture Magazine. The Swarm Trap Hive hangs invitingly, ten feet up an aromatic Cedar Tree, facing due South, complete with a pheromone lure that mimics the scent of a jubilant scout bee who has just found the perfect home for her swarm. March 23,2010. photo DML

, Above. the swarm trap hive poised to hoist. It is a complete hive, from the screened bottom board, two hive bodies with frames, pheremone lure, inner cover, peaked copper roof and a robbing screen. The plan: a swarm will inhabit this hive, happy to have found such lovely digs. We then close the door at night, and in the morning lower the hive and place upon a waiting hive stand. Perfect. One small issue....no swarms this year. Instead, a record amount of bearding (see photos that follow) was experienced, both in my apiary and others. Well...maybe next year...We are ready! March 23, 2010. photo DML

, From left to right, Victoria and Francesca, are settling in for a night under the stars. As you can see, the population is booming. On the next photo, below, Francesca is bearding above the queen excluder! June 6 2010 photo DML

Francesca seen above, is celebrating her sixth summer with no losses!! This is especially important as she has survived with no miticides or pesticides, ever. She has also had no supplemental feeding since the winter of 2006-2007 when I implemented a management practice of leaving an extra super of honey on all colonies. My goal is to never use sugar syrup. To this end, I have frames of honey in the freezer for the next potential swarm hiving. Photo DML June 14, 2010

A Bees - eye view over the six foot hedge and straight on to their own front porch. Every October these hedges bloom with fragrant, nectar rich blossoms. photo DML

Shown above, Celeste's front porch with detail of copper cleat holding hive stand in place. Many folks have asked about the construction: 6x6 post, buried several feet into the ground with sackcrete. The hive stand is thru bolted and pitched slightly forward, copper cleats at corners to hold porch hive stand from slipping off. My husband is the architect. Easy to mow under, high for raccoons etc. Photo detail of stand construction shown below. Note the 6x6 has been beveled at the top to allow mites to roll to the ground. Photo DML

The path from the Bee Garden.... photo DML

Crocosmia blooming July 2007 photo DML

A Pair of Painted Buntings has moved into our herbaceous border. Above, Mr. Painted Bunting April 13 2010. Has he returned in January 2011? see photo below photo HEL Click here to see more Painted Bunting photos

January 23, 2011. A Painted Bunting at our feeder...in the snow! Could it be the same fellow we saw last April in the photo above? We had 6-8 inches of snow yesterday, lovely and cold! Photo HEL

Above, Seven birds or more taking a dip,Froggie likes the company. Photo HEL 09/11/10

Honeybee in Crimson Clover (working lower left blossom) April 2008 photo DML

Drawn Small Cell Honey Comb measuring 4.8 - 4.9mm, this is an extracted frame from Queen Celeste. To calculate, measure a section ten cells long and divide by ten. October 4, 2007 Celeste is a small cell Queen from 'FatBeeman' Don Kuchenmeister in Lula GA. photo HEL

Harvest 2007 showing the differences in floral nectar sources gathered at different times of the year. Shown above, from left:: September harvest, July harvest, April harvest. The April honey, seen at right, and below, is the 2007 NC State Fair Third Place Ribbon winner in the Senior Honey Competition, Extracted Honey Light!

photo DML

This April honey was solely the work of Queen Francesca and her Francescan daughters! photo DML

Shown above, a huge Swarm from our Queen Latifa, that I captured in a Wax Myrtle tree April 1, 2008. I had placed an empty, fully drawn brood frame in the can before I came up under the swarm, to knock them in. The Queen settled on the frame, and it was a piece of cake to transfer her, by placing the frame into her new home. photo DML

Anne E. and I watch the girls march in following their Queen. It was a heart-warming sight! This swarm was so enormous, a second brood chamber was added immediately. Because these bees are fully regressed small cell honeybees from our own colony, I am thrilled! Photo HEL

Yet another swarm from Queen Latifa, April 11, 2008. Howie caught this one way up in the Cedar tree...It was a busy year! We captured two more. We gave a swarm, from Queen Francesca to Mr. D , and the other got away. This was a smaller after-swarm, but they built up nicely! We used the 'frame in the can method' for this swarm as well. Here I am, moving this fully regressed small cell family into their new home! photo HEL