I love my bees

 My beekeepering friends probably get tired of me talking about how calm my bees are….but it’s true.

When we retired and moved back home in 2019, I ordered new bees from BeeMaid in Alberta, three packages.  In the past I had mostly gotten nucs but since I had lots of drawn out comb and had some nasty experiences with some nuc suppliers, I decided to order packages from New Zealand. When they arrived, they were beautiful healthy bees, with nice temperaments. I was very happy with them.

Here it is Sept 2022 and I still have those three original hives plus a split I did from one of them last year.  I love these bees. They are calm and relaxed. And even the bee inspector commented how calm they were.

 I decided two years ago to start going into the hives with only wearing nitrile gloves. I wanted to be able to feel the frames better and they are way less bulky. It won’t stop a bee sting but that’s ok. This year I decided to go gloveless all together. What a difference not wearing anything on your hands. It forces you to slow down and to take note where your fingers are. There is something really neat about the feeling of a bee crawling on your hands and arms. Nothing else feels like that.

Today I went into my big hive to start pulling honey. This is my overachiever hive. It’s motto I am pretty sure is….go big or go home. Not only was there lots of honey, there was lots of bees. As I removed each frame, my hands and forearms were speckled with these little vibrating insects. There is something very calming about that. (Or frightening in some peoples eyes). 

Anyways….I don’t really know why they are like this….but I am glad they are.

Til next time….cheers🐝❤️

Swarms, splits and wildflowers

 The end of July is quickly approaching. It’s been a weird spring/summer. I’m not sure but suspect I say that every year. Spring came very late. The cool temperatures went on forever. But it is nice now and everything is lush and green. 

I am feeling we are about two weeks behind normal. I look at my greenhouse and the tomatoes are finally growing but certainly a long way from being red. But oh well, you can’t do anything about it.

Swarm season for our area can start as early as late May but mostly in early June. It was late this year…and I know of people in our general area  who are still having swarms.

I am pretty sure I had some. But didn’t see them or catch anything. I did however, attempt a split but it wasnt successful and didn’t want to try again as we were getting late in the year. I would sooner make sure all the hives have honey for winter then make more splits now. It’s not worth it. 

We added some new plants in our forest garden/orchard/bee yard this year. We made a blueberry bed and added two more bushes for a total of four now. We also planted a rose and two black elderberries. I am excited for next year, as we are adding fruit tree guilds around each fruit tree and bed. The bees will be so happy with all the new things they can gather pollen and nectar from.

Girls hanging out

August 2

Why does it feel later than August. Maybe because the days are getting noticeably shorter. It’s 9:30 and you can hardly see across the yard. It seems like only a week ago I could see across the yard well after 10:00.

So every year I promise myself thst I will pull honey st the beginning of Aug. I think I will wait til mid Aug this year since we are a little behind. I am pretty sure the girls have brought in enough nectar to take them through the winter, but I am also hoping there will be a little honey to tide us over too.

It has been a very hot dry summer. I can’t remember our yard ever having crunchy areas. We have had very few heavy down pours that went on long enough to saturate everything. We did yesterday however, and it was glorious. Everything looked so refreshed. 

We still have quite a few wildflowers in bloom. And for the past week or two, the girls have been bringing in whitish coloured pollen. I suspect it might be from the wild purple asters that are in bloom. Some of the plants still blooming are, fireweed, tansy, goldenrod, asters, hemp nettle, yarrow and a few other things I can’t think of off hand.

I started pulling hemp nettle out the other day but then noticed all the different bumblebees visiting every flower. I got mesmerized watching them go from flower to flower. I couldn’t bring myself to pull out any after that.

Anyways I am going to end this here so I won’t ramble on any longer.

Til next time. 🐝💕

New black elderberry bushes

New blueberry bed with comfrey