Working to re-start my blog with a post from the Eastern Apicultural Society’s 2019 Short Course & Conference in Greenville, South Carolina in the United Status. I am sitting in my hotel room Tuesday evening after the second day of the conference. As is typical for EAS, the first two days are set up as a short course on beekeeping: beginner, intermediate, and advanced instruction along with an outside Apiary for demonstrations and discussions. The rest of the week is a more traditional conference with keynote speakers and classroom lectures. Continue reading
Author: Erik
Culture may even bee described
A short post to link an article from the online magazine Otia.io. They contacted me earlier this year and the exchange led to the following article: Erik Brown, Director and Program Manager on Beekeeping. Basically they sent me an interview questionnaire, and turned my answers into the article. Kind of cool. Continue reading
Comb away from home
A quick update on the bees. Our temperatures have been unseasonably cold. We’ve had a few sunny days in the 50’s (above 10 C) that have gotten the bees out and about, though many nights are below freezing. I went into the hives last weekend, and my five remaining hives seem to be doing well.
Comb built out in an Imirie shim on March 24, 2019. ©Erik Brown
What will bee, will bee
Continuing from my 2018 report card in my prior post, another yearly tradition: my 2019 goals. This is, perhaps, overdue, it being mid-February. Although the beekeeping season ramps up with the weather, so I should be okay. I gave myself a B grade for 2018, which at the time I thought was a little generous. I am working to evolve how I involve myself in beekeeping, so my goals are perhaps reflective of this. I have also decided to establish “grading criteria” to make it easier to do my report card next year. As usual, we’ll see how it goes, feedback is appreciated, and… what will be, will be. Continue reading
A beekeeper should have a good memory
This being January, it is time for my prior year report card. This has been a good tradition to assess how I did against my goals, and it gets me thinking about what I might improve in the coming year. On my 2017 report card More than honey I gave myself a B, so time to see how we fared in 2018. Continue reading
Bees know more than books
Happy 2019 from snow-covered Virginia! It’s been a warm winter thus far; this weekend is the first we’ve seen of the white stuff. When the weather is cold, I prefer to have snow.
My 2018 was a busy beekeeping year, much of it not in my apiary. Since I haven’t been so diligent about recording my adventures here, I wanted to summarize the year with my first post of 2019.
My hives Saturn, Mimas, and Atlas this morning on January 13, 2019 after a night of snow. ©Erik Brown
O Little Hive in My Back Yard
Time once again for our annual Christmas carol. It has not been a very successful year on the blogging front, I helped plan the annual Eastern Apicultural Society conference in Virginia, which took up a bunch of my time. This is my fourth Christmas with this site, and traditions are important, so here we are. Continue reading
