FROM THE HIVE - SPRING

August is the time for some of our stinging insects to build their colonies for the winter, specifically the Yellow Jackets (NOT Tim's favorite). Yet he loves to pay them visits late at night when they all are sleeping .

On Saturday afternoon, Tim was cleaning up the area around a tree that had died, when he unearthed a nest of yellow jackets with the bucket on the tractor. Knowing they could fly faster than he could back up, Tim wisely leaped off the tractor and ran to the house - a mob of these stinging monsters racing behind.

Waiting until this evening, when it was cool, dark, and they all would be snug in the ground, Tim came back armed with a lot of bug spray, a tarp to trap them underground, and sprayed the holes. We will see if he got them all in the morning.

What does a beekeeper do in August? Get rid of nesting yellow jackets.

Tim will be pulling honey supers and extracting next week. The bees have been quite busy this season, despite all the rain we had early on. When people visit our farm, some ask if we intent to get a lawn service to improve our grass. Our answer is NO. The clover is intentionally for our bees. It is quite pretty to see the field of green with white flowers, and the bees busy.

This spring and summer, Tim has added nukes to his products FROM THE HIVE. He has created a number of new "starter hives" NUKES, and has assisted several people in getting started in the fascinating beekeeping hobby.

We have also refurbished a number of boxes, repainting them to assure they can withstand the weather of the seasons. Periodically, it is good to get a fresh coat of paint on your hives to ensure their longevity, as hive box materials are getting more expensive.

It’s swarm season! A swarm is the way a strong, healthy colony reproduces. Fortunately, this swarm found a new home in unused boxes setting outside our barnyard, that were waiting to go into storage. Colony saved!

Another colony of bees was discovered in a tree was near a walking trail on the Bayer Campus. this called for some heavy equipment. Tim brought the tractor and a chain saw to cut the tree to a manageable size and the relocated the tree and bees to a friend’s bee yard and farm in St. Charles County.

Spring is a busy time for beekeepers. Tim is checking all the hives to see how well they did over the winter and getting them ready for the nectar flow. He is checking for swarm cells, splitting strong colonies, getting them ready to collect honey, and adding honey supers.

He says, "I have been told it is time to add honey supers when you see the dandelion and fruit trees bloom - and there are plenty in bloom right now."

He will be taking brood from the hives, equalizing them, creating nucs, and introducing queens this week. We will have a few nucs ready for sale by the end of April.

5 -Frame Deep Nucleus Hive for $175.

Please feel free to send us an email if you are interested in getting one.