The Hawthorn tree, Crataegus sp. in my neighborhood is covered in flowers right now… and covered in bees–look close to see one flying! I saw all sizes, from very tiny 1/4 inch ones to bumblebees. They are high up in the branches and, unfortunately, their hum can only be heard during the brief lags in passing […]
Sadly, we lost one of our beehives last week. We were feeding them sugar blocks through the winter, but it was not enough given the size of the hive and they starved. A more experienced beekeeper from our club came to help with a postmortem. Not to get into too many details, but we […]
It’s been a busy spring, some of it my doing, some of it I was drafted into. I’m not protesting too much. My dear husband Bill decided to take a beekeeping class to assist with the bee hive at our church. The first hive died last fall and he didn’t know why. The class met […]
We’ve had a wild honeybee hive living in our cabin’s fireplace for over ten years. No, they don’t get inside, even before we installed a woodburing stove with a sealed stovepipe to meet the local clean air requirements. They come and go. Last year they swarmed. After the flood, I planted wildflowers, as much for […]