I have three questions (about beekeeping) that have been knocking around in my otherwise empty head.
Landing boards.
Currently I have my hive up on bricks. It works. I'm looking to get a “proper stand” and all the ones I see have landing boards. I don’t have a landing board on my setup and my bees don’t seem to care. I’ve yet to see a landing board on a hollow tree.
What’s the point of a landing board?
Queen Cells.
Why are queen cells spongy? The drawn wax comb is much more brittle. Queen cells don’t seem like they are made out of wax, they seem more like webbing.
What are queen cells made out of? Or how do bees make queen cells?
Forage
Jazz and I are discussing whether our bees fly in the rain. I’ve read that part of the reason that bees don’t forage in the rain and/or the cold is that flowers need dry warm conditions to present nectar. If it’s too cold, the plant can’t create or present the nectar and if it’s raining, the nectar is washed away or diluted. However, my bees are certainly foraging (or at least leaving the hive) in large numbers.
If flowers can’t present nectar in the rain, wtf are my bees doing in the rain?
Landing boards.
Currently I have my hive up on bricks. It works. I'm looking to get a “proper stand” and all the ones I see have landing boards. I don’t have a landing board on my setup and my bees don’t seem to care. I’ve yet to see a landing board on a hollow tree.
What’s the point of a landing board?
Queen Cells.
Why are queen cells spongy? The drawn wax comb is much more brittle. Queen cells don’t seem like they are made out of wax, they seem more like webbing.
What are queen cells made out of? Or how do bees make queen cells?
Forage
Jazz and I are discussing whether our bees fly in the rain. I’ve read that part of the reason that bees don’t forage in the rain and/or the cold is that flowers need dry warm conditions to present nectar. If it’s too cold, the plant can’t create or present the nectar and if it’s raining, the nectar is washed away or diluted. However, my bees are certainly foraging (or at least leaving the hive) in large numbers.
If flowers can’t present nectar in the rain, wtf are my bees doing in the rain?
Running "Foundationless All Mediums with No Queen Excluder". Each box is national spec, but 190mm deep.