Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In Medina, Ohio, the A. I. Root Company made millions and millions of these
basswood sections. And after a very few years their sources of basswood began
to grow thin. To maintain a steady source of the wood, they planted plantations of
these trees.
After only a very few years the basswood trees were large enough to provide
shade for the Root Company's queen-producing beehives. Soon, the trees were
large enough to bloom, and during the warmest part of the summer, these miracle
basswoods not only provided shade for man and bees alike, they provided a most
wonderful nectar—a great and glorious crop of basswood honey in only a very few
weeks.
As the trees were thinned they provided even more wood for the basswood sec-
tions. Basswood honey, made from the flowers of basswood trees and put into the
crisp, clean basswood sections was a rare treat.
The A. I. Root Company's basswood trees made shade, made honey, and eventually
made basswood section boxes, the precursor to comb honey production.
Finding Queens, and Requeening
During the summer you may find your queen missing. This may be from being
poorly mated, nosema, being exposed to harsh chemicals, or other problems. Al-
ternatively, the queen may be injured while you are working a colony, and a dam-
aged queen is damaged goods. Or, perhaps her performance isn't up to par—spotty
brood pattern, not much brood, too many drones—or she just quit laying. After
checking with a beekeeper with more experience than you for advice you may de-
cide, for whatever reason, to requeen.
Order a marked queen from a local supplier, or mail order. Prepare the colony
for when she arrives. If the colony has a queen, but a bad one, you have to get rid
of her first, and now comes the most dreaded phrase in all of beekeeping: First,
find the queen.
