Tim started beekeeping in 2007, with a couple of hives donated by friends. 2022, his first year with hives in Virginia, was difficult for most beekeepers in this area. Average loss was 75%. We are working to minimize this problem and invest in new colonies to restart.

In April 2023, Tim installed 4 new colonies in our new bee yard. Two of his hives successfully over wintered and he is working to bring them up to production levels this year. Our intent is to have a sustainable yard and be able to extract in the fall this year.

THERE ARE BEARS IN THE WOODS

When folks in the area said there were bears in the area, that sounded way too foreign for our understanding. Well, we found out the hard way.

Tim had set up our new hives in a shaded location and kept a couple of hives in the original spot. The first night we had thought it was racoons, so he put up a game camera to capture the culprit. It was then we realized, it was much bigger - it was a bear. It destroyed one of the remaining hives, carrying it off about 20ft into the woods. As was recommended, Tim then electrified the yard around the remaining hive. So far, so good.