Author Archives: ljwestover

My youngest son, Gerrit, and I went to Sugarland (part of greater Houston, Texas) on Saturday and did a bee removal from the wall of a garage. It was quite extensive. We cut out brood comb and honey and pollen … Continue reading →

Yesterday and today I cut plywood boards and 2×4′s to make beehive tops and bottom boards but I have not put them together yet. I also got materials together to make inner covers. Today I went through many of the … Continue reading →

My youngest son and I drove down to Katy, Texas, and picked up a nice big swarm this morning. The homeowner got them to go into a cardboard box and set it at the side of their house, so all … Continue reading →

Since returning to Texas from Japan, my youngest son and I have split two hives, melted beeswax and dipped foundation sheets, milled about 50 4.9 small cell foundation sheets from our own wax using our own foundation mill, trimmed and … Continue reading →

Today I was able to get a pretty good photograph of the queen bee in the observation hive surrounded by her attendants. This hive is in my office and is comprised of one frame. They seem to be doing well.

Here is a short update on the nucleus hive I put together: it has been raining quite a bit the last several days, so today was the first day I was able to open up the nucleus hive of western … Continue reading →

The western honey bee colony in my observation beehive built quite a bit of burr (cross-/brace-) comb attached to both the face of the brood comb and the glass/plastic of the beehive since there was quite a bit of space … Continue reading →

Yesterday I got a call about a colony of Japanese honey bees (Apis cerana japonica) that had been built under the eave of a house in Nishi Urube, Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan. We did not know until we got there to … Continue reading →

Yesterday at lunch I mentioned to Kamitani sensei that we had not received any calls about bee swarms lately, and last night he sent me an email telling me that he got a call right after I left to go … Continue reading →

Of course there can always be an alternative explanation for almost everything that happens, especially when one claims it is an answer to prayer, but I believe in the power of prayers and I would be remiss not to thank … Continue reading →