Bees

This past Fall I decided to try the Bee Cozy from NOD Apiary Products. Note, this is not a paid review. Just my personal thoughts on how well this product performs.

2020…what a year of surprises; and no less so than in my little apiary.

At first, I thought the robbing bees were from my own hives, but after watching the travel pattern, it became clear this gang was from elsewhere far beyond.

When I first got into having bees, I had absolutely no clue how much extra support the little critters would need to make it through a rainy, cold, sometimes snowy Pacific Northwest winter. My first year ended in disaster. Thankfully, my 2nd winter turned out much better. Here’s what I did.

What was originally purchased for winter use has become an integral component of my year around beekeeping set up. I’m a big fan of the Vivaldi Board.

When the outside world seems increasingly fractious, the world of bees is a respite.  Even when things are a bit challenging in and around the colonies, hearing the hum of bees as they fly in out of their hives is calming, and somehow meditative. Here are notes from the last couple of months of beekeeping.

Three recent things I’ve learned about bees and beekeeping

If you have chickens, you might just find yourself getting addicted to beekeeping, too.

Did you ever stop to think that bees need water?  I certainly never did, that is, until I began setting up our apiary.  Yes, it does seem obvious in retrospect (they need it to make honey, after all), but… 

One of the first things I learned in a beekeeping class here in Seattle is that what works in, say, Ohio or California can’t be counted on to work in the drizzly PNW.

There was a multidimensional allure to setting up hives on my little farm.  For one thing, I like honey. Let me repeat: I really like honey…