SIBA Bee Blog

Soapmaking for Beginners with Jan Jackson

Jan Jackson came and presented a lesson in soapmaking for beginners. Many in our group have been waiting for someone to come and show the basic process since several people had a concern over working with lye. Jan over-delivered by showing us all the basic equipment and the process she uses to make her goats…
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Larry Kemmerly from ISBA talks to SIBA about harvesting bee pollen

Contributed by J. Morgan Larry Kemmerly from the Indiana State Beekeepers Association (ISBA) speaks to Southeast Indiana Beekeepers about collecting and processing pollen for consumption and sale at farmers markets. Larry collects and sells about 50 lbs of pollen per year. While Larry's methods are by no means the defacto, we asked him to explain…
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Small Hive Beetle (SHB) What to do?

Submitted by J. Morgan As a beekeeper in my forth season, I can proudly say that I haven't lost a hive yet! I'm not worrying about jinxing myself either because I know I eventually will. We all will. Sometimes, there's just nothing we can do. But for me, I don't go down without a fight. Despite…
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What’s that smell?

Submitted by J. Orem Yes, it's that time of year! Goldenrod is in bloom and my apiary smells like feet. I have heard that in Indiana alone there are 11 kinds of goldenrod. I can identify only 3. There's the early one you see in July, then the flat topped kind you see in August…
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