BEE CURIOUS HONEY: 2015

2014 was full of learning experiences. We learned how to replace a colony's queen bee, how to split a strong colony into 2 colonies, and we learned the importance of quality equipment.

We bought 2 new queens to replace a queen in a struggling hive and to split a second hive into 2 colonies.

Unfortunately, even after replacing the queen in the struggling hive, and providing supplemental feed, the colony never seemed to recover. We realized later that the hive boxes didn't fit snug, which allowed other bees to sneak in and steal honey. Presumably it also allowed a cold draft into the hive during the winter, making it difficult for the bees to regulate the temperature, and we ended up losing that colony. A sad lesson learned.

The split was a success!

On a positive note, splitting our strong hive was a success, and the new colony grew so quickly, it nearly surpassed the size of our other hives in just one season.

Jenée got stung twice throughout the season (both in the same week), so she now wears Gore-Tex pants over her jeans, which makes the job safer, but a lot warmer.

The 2014 honey harvest was a lot of work, but a big success, and honey sold out very quickly, thanks to all our generous supporters. We're looking forward to putting that "honey money" to good use in the coming years. Maybe an electric extractor is in our future... hand-cranking the borrowed extractor for 5 minutes for each frame gets pretty exhausting.