I extracted and filtered the spring wildflower honey and expect it to be in containers and available to purchase by the end of June. It has an amber color and a bright flavor with some light citrus tones. The honey that you see being extracted here is the same honey that goes into the jars.
Hive Expansion
My beehive expansion for 2019 is just about complete. I am currently at 21 hives in three locations in the Ohio Valley. A small animal caused some mischief at one of the apiaries by knocking over three beehives and trying to eat the bees and the honey. I usually keep the hives sealed with ratchet straps to discourage animals and prevent high winds from pulling them apart. The bees were not especially happy when I first arrived, but quickly calmed down when I turned their homes right side up and took care of the displacement. Two queens are missing, but the hives should recover just fine.
While I usually do not harvest honey until fall, two of the hives produced a few extra gallons of spring wildflower honey which I plan to extract make available to purchase in the next couple of weeks. It is delicious!!
8 hives in Apiary #2
10 hives in the field of goldenrod
10 hives in Apiary #1
10 hives in Apiary #1
Spring honey
Honey Bee Swarms Moved to Apiary
It was a warm and sunny Friday, I took the day off from work to relocate the two swarms from my property in Pittsburgh to the property in Franklin. There will be less competition for pollen and nectar. It went off without a hitch and the bees settled in quickly. I briefly checked on the other hives and all seemed to be doing very well!
Second Honey Bee Swarm
I arrived home from work this evening and noticed a handful of bees hanging out under a large, old clay rooftop corner piece that I have sitting on a tree stump near the kitchen door. A closer look revealed a feral colony of bees clustered inside, and very healthy looking! It was pure luck that I stayed up late last night assembling another beehive, I quickly put it to use and plan to run these two colonies up to the larger property this weekend where they will have hundreds of acres to forage.
Honey Bee Swarm
A feral honey bee colony has been wandering around the neighboring yards for the last few days. It clustered in a small tree near the ground this morning, so I quickly pulled together a hive and helped it to find a home.
The bees found something unusual
The beehives at home are doing so well, I had to split off another hive today… and could have done two more except all of my equipment is either up north at the property or still being assembled. They are bringing and storing a lot of honey already. Interestingly, they found some pollen that is bright red.
Red pollen
A few new (empty) hives
I moved a few empty hives into the new apiary spot on Saturday. They still need to be set into place and leveled up before I can fill them up with honey bees. I plan to get that accomplished tomorrow and, weather permitting, will see if the timing is good to split a hive into two hives. Of course, hive assembly and painting continues. Four down and six more to go…
Apiary Expansion
Seth helped me to set up another electric fence enclosure for beehives today, 210 square feet. It will easily be large enough for eight hives with room to spare. This new location is thousands of feet away from the field of goldenrod, I am curious to see what kind of honey they produce from this location this year. I hope to have some beehives moved into it next weekend.
April Hive Inspection at Home
These honey bees never fail to surprise me. As of March 15th, I had a beehive that was queenless. The sun was shining this afternoon and temperatures around 65 degrees - the perfect conditions for a beehive inspection (and Big Stinky Dog Bath). Both hives had queens today, evidenced by capped brood, larvae, and eggs. I did not see the queens, but I did not need to find them to be confident one was in each hive. One hive was so jam-packed full with brood that I added a honey super (above a queen excluder) to give them some room to grow. I could have split these two into four today, but opted to wait a bit longer. Seven hives going into winter and seven hives coming out! I have never started a season with hives this strong. I plan to look into more of the hives tomorrow and also begin setting up another fenced in apiary on the property. It is an expansion year.
Front of beehive
Honey bee with pollen on the hive frame
Honey Bee larvae in the comb cells
Hive frame with capped honey and fresh nectar being stored up
Closer look at fresh nectar and pollen
A hive frame full of capped brood
One Big Stinky Dog who is now clean
Another Hive Inspection
The weather was not very compatible today for hive inspections but I had no choice. It has been a long time since I was able to do a thorough one. The temperature was in the mid-40’s and overcast skies, which is a guarantee for angry, hostile bees. Beyond the persistent roar of bees trying to sting me, I was thrilled to find all of the hives in good condition and no losses this winter. One hive is queenless, I was able to borrow a frame of eggs from a neighboring hive and insert it with the hope that they will raise a queen from it.
With 10 more hives to be installed this spring, I was surveying the property for a second location to place some. I think I found the perfect spot with easy access but far enough away that they will not be disturbed by the ATV. I plan to put in an electric fence soon and will try five or six hives there this year.
Attending to the larvae in the cells
A sea of honey bees in the hive
The bee with the red dot is a marked queen from 2018
Electric Fence Clasp
