Putting the Bees to Bed for the Winter

This has been the greatest bee season we've had in fifteen years. All three hives came out of the winter strong and healthy. We split all three, gave one to some aspiring beekeepers after it was up and running. We caught a swarm but it later lost its queen and had laying workers. So we took that one down to let the bees find new homes. Another hive had laying workers. We worked to get them to raise a queen which they did, but the hive was weak and was overtaken by wax moth. So we ended up with four hives. They produced so much honey that we harvested twice, the first time in 15 years.

Today we worked to put the girls to bed. We did the last small hive beetle treatment and insulated two of the hives. The only thing left is to put insulation in the top of the last two boxes. Then we will put them in the hands of patrons of beekeepers until late winter when we'll hope for a warm day to check their stores. They have plenty right now and we made sure they are in the middle over where the cluster will form since they move up and not so much side to side. We are thanking God for our great season and all the wonderful honey we have in the cupboard. 

Come visit. We'll have a tea party and say a rosary of thanksgiving for God's wonderful gift of honeybees!

First 2026 Bee Inspection

Last week we did our first Spring bee inspection. All three of our hives are thriving with lots of bees. The hives also still have food stores, but we added three honey frames to two of them anyway after re-ordering the boxes. Since the bees move up during the winter, Spring is a good time to move the bees from the top box back to the bottom. We inspected on a warm day and many bees were bringing in pollen. Despite no nectar flow yet, there is always pollen available even during the winter.

We plan to split all three hives a little later and will hopefully have a few hives to share. We love beekeeping and would happily encourage others to join us in backyard beekeeping.