With the help of Derek M. Sam S. and Dick W. we did a quick inspection this week, removed the feeders, and added queen excluders and honey supers. The girls are doing great. Of note this week, they had moved a lot of the nectar they placed in what had been the brood area in… Read more

Swarm Season Edition! For the next month or so, honeybees reproduce by swarming.  During this time, you may see a large cluster of bees on a bush or in a tree. If you see a swarm of bees do not worry!  It is completely natural, and while swarming, bees are particularly docile.  Generally, they will not… Read more

We took advantage of the warmer weather on Thursday to replenish the feeders ad take a quick look inside the hives.  The Girls have been very busy!  They have continued to build out and fill the drawn comb we gave them in the new supers last week.  Because of the weather we only pulled a… Read more

The weather has been pretty marginal for bees this past week. Generally, bees need weather above 55 degrees Fahrenheit to mobilize their workforce, though many colonies will venture out at temperatures down into the high 40s. Our girls seem to be willing to fly when temperatures are in the low 50s down to the upper… Read more

After more than 6 months of planning and work, the bees are finally here. We traveled to Lakeside. Virginia, a suburb of Richmond in Henrico County to pick up the bees this morning! They made the car ride back in good order, though one of the two colonies was still a bit “Fiesty” when they… Read more

The Virginia Department of Agriculture, in Conjunction with BeeCheck.org maintains an voluntary inventory of managed apiaries in the Commonwealth. the url is https://va.beecheck.org/map The site is intended to be a tool for both citizen and commercial pesticide applicators to learn of the presence of bees nearby intended application sites so that they can prevent drift… Read more