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. 

April 21st Bee Inspection. Lookin' Good!

Big bee inspection on Monday, April 21st. Saw the queen in one hive. They were making comb in the top between the frames and the lid where we had a small shim to make enough room for a feeding bag. We should have checked on the bees weeks ago but the bad weather and some stuff going on made it difficult. The queen was in the space with a beautiful comb arrangement -- the bees own architecture. I wish I took a picture .

We got her back down into the hive and removed the comb. Some we rubber banded into a frame and put in a new nuke hive. We also put out a swarm capture hive. Hopefully, we will pick up a swarm which, if the nuke rears a queen will give us four hives this season. We'll see. But this may be our last season. The work in the bee yard was exhausting for both of us. But no stings today, thanks bee to God.

Bad News for Beekeepers!

 

The Complexity of a bee colony puts the lie to evolution!

There is no way the complex community of a beehive came about by chance and millions of small changes. Evolution is nonsense except changes within a species which isn't really "evolution" at all. Natural selection lets the best and brightest (so to speak) of a species thrive, while the weak members tend to die out. Watch the video and marvel at the complexity created by God.

 

Lovin' Our Chickens!

chickens in....

We forgot to close up the chicken coop last night. This morning our little flock were all out about roaming the yard. A quick head count found all eight well and accounted for.

I'm thanking our Camp Kreitzer guardians, St. Michael and St. Joseph for keeping the foxes and the raccoons away last night. A fox will take one off, but raccoons will kill them all even those he doesn't eat.

So the problem, since we are going out later. How to get them all back into the safety of the coop?

I proceeded to use bribery. I went to get a container full of chicken treat. When I came out of the house and started to shake the container with their treat, they come running. I always feel like the Pied Piper when I bring them their treats. And they followed me enthusiastically into their pen...except for one holdout, Pepper, who stopped at the door and decided freedom was better than treats. I tried to coax her in, but gave up after awhile and went back in the house.

Last Bee Feeding for the Fall?

The temperature got up to 72 degrees today, warm enough to do a complete bee inspection. Both hives have lots of bees and are heavy with stores. The bottom boxes were pretty empty so we moved them to the top and fed both hives, probably for the last time until late winter or early spring. We put in new swiffer sheets because both hives had lots of small hive beetles. The sheets that were in the hives captured quite a few Hopefully they will die back over the winter.

We used the smoker but the bees were pretty calm. We moved the hive near the road over next to the other hive because the bench was leaning forward a bit and looked a little unstable. Wouldn't want to come out some morning and see the beehive fallen onto the ground. So all is good in the Camp Kreitzer bee yard. May the patrons of beekeepers keep our girls warm and healthy over the winter so we can try expanding in the Spring. We'll pray for a better season than this one was.