Bad Bee-havior: The Nectar Robbers

Bad Bee-havior: The Nectar Robbers

As mentioned in this post, during late summer and fall in this area there is a relative dearth of nectar available for our honeybees, as they depend heavily on native forage. One of the best native nectar sources this time of year for honey bees is Coyote Brush...
Of Drought, Dearth, & Drones

Of Drought, Dearth, & Drones

Last fall, and early winter, we experienced some significant rainfall events. One large storm after another sent water racing down our slopes, and off into the creeks. By December we were genuinely concerned that if that pattern persisted we’d slide into the creeks by...
Beeswax: Solar Wax Melter

Beeswax: Solar Wax Melter

One of the byproducts of harvesting honey is beeswax.  A couple of weeks ago we took the last of our honey for the season from our hives. Although most of the frames will be reused for another year, a couple of frames were damaged during the extraction, and we also...
A Late Summer Honey Harvest

A Late Summer Honey Harvest

Although we primarily keep bees for pollination, we’d be lying if we didn’t admit that at some point we also hoped to harvest at least some honey.  Last year, as the colonies were building up, we left the honey stores with the bees. We’ve had a smackeral or two of...
Inside the Hives After the Swarm

Inside the Hives After the Swarm

Last week two of the hives in our apiary swarmed.  The Lavender colony swarmed on Sunday afternoon, followed 24 hours later by the Salvia colony.  Both hives had been split this spring prior to the swarms, Lavender was split as recently as two weeks ago, but after...