I picked up two bee packages last Friday night at Beez Neez in Snohomish and installed one down at Harstine and the other here in Seattle. Thanks to the current health of the US honey bee population, bee packages are getting expensive–this year a three-pound package with an unmarked queen was $90. That’s a lot more than I paid for packages when I first started (300% more)! Maybe it’s time to get serious about managing splits and swarms as a means to apiary expansion.
The surviving hive down at Harstine is doing quite well. Thanks to the ongoing big-leaf maple bloom and good weather of the past week, this hive is quickly running out of room. I got mite control off to a good start–the drone frame was full enough to cut out and start anew and this weekend I’ll start powdered sugar treatments. I also added the first super of the year in hopes of picking up a few pounds of maple honey.
The hive situation in Seattle is a much different story. While this hive has a couple of frames of capped brood about to emerge, it seems listless compared to the new one I just installed next to it (definitely not as many bees). Hoepfully this hive (and its queen) will begin to pick up steam as spring continues to roll in.
A New Year
I picked up two bee packages last Friday night at Beez Neez in Snohomish and installed one down at Harstine and the other here in Seattle. Thanks to the current health of the US honey bee population, bee packages are getting expensive–this year a three-pound package with an unmarked queen was $90. That’s a lot more than I paid for packages when I first started (300% more)! Maybe it’s time to get serious about managing splits and swarms as a means to apiary expansion.
The surviving hive down at Harstine is doing quite well. Thanks to the ongoing big-leaf maple bloom and good weather of the past week, this hive is quickly running out of room. I got mite control off to a good start–the drone frame was full enough to cut out and start anew and this weekend I’ll start powdered sugar treatments. I also added the first super of the year in hopes of picking up a few pounds of maple honey.
The hive situation in Seattle is a much different story. While this hive has a couple of frames of capped brood about to emerge, it seems listless compared to the new one I just installed next to it (definitely not as many bees). Hoepfully this hive (and its queen) will begin to pick up steam as spring continues to roll in.