Spring is finally here, just in time for summer. Most of our splits working well - a couple didn’t leading to some early merges, and then there’s the mystery of the 60 day old queen who looks much worse. #beestr

How it’s going

Tired and tried but Holiday weekend tradition is now in its third year. #beestr

I’m very done with the cold. The dandelions are popping and it’s time for Spring splits before the bees decide to do it on their own. 2 down, 3 to go. #beestr

It’s not just about honey. #beestr

We had a real winter spell last week with cold and everything, but temps are back up. Went to do a wellness check on the hives and things are looking good. #beestr

Plexiglass covers for winter feeding shims seem great so far. I can look in without letting all the heat out #beestr

Uggh… probably $36 Cdn a Kg but there’s no such thing as a cheap hobby I suppose. #beestr

I’m learning to raise enough to sustain my yard for now.

Good morning! Here’s another queen born in 2024. #beestr

Full disclosure- it’s not what I did. I watched hours of YouTube, read some books and then went full speed ahead. I’ve done/am doing stupid stuff still and probably paying for it with cash and other ways, but there are lots of friendly online communities that will help if you ask.

More adventures in the bee yard this week. I wanted to merge a nuc with another queenless colony, but the nuc was the better colony. So rehomed the nuc. I was a little surprised by just how many bees there were. Then moved the weak colony over for the merge. #beestr

I'm surprised no one said it, but the best way is find someone in your area who is already doing it and help them for a season or two before you start your own. It won't be a lot of hours, but seeing the life cycle for bees in your climate is really useful.

My favourite queen - one of only two that survived over winter and didn’t swarm. I managed to create one split with her genes, but I wish I could have created a dozen. #beestr

Was feeling pretty pleased with myself over first OTS queen rearing attempt so thought I’d try again. Made several scores in the comb - but the bees said ‘Nah Bro’. Instead, they made their own. #beestr

Should you consider feeding them 1:1 syrup? They’ll need a lot to build out.

We did a follow up inspection this week. The hive that had only one cell has hatched and mated successfully. The other one didn't appear to have any brood which made us think it failed, but then we spotted the queen bee so 2 tries - 2 wins. It was really exciting for us amateurs. #beestr

I’m getting better at spotting queen bees but it’s still tricky. I do need to learn how to mark them.

Trying OTS queen rearing for the first time. Two hives, one with 5 but the second one only chose to raise 1, and not a promising one really. #beestr #grownostr

I live rural and Starlink is better than any cell based system out here, and maybe better than the basic level fibre optic we have in town. I’d suggest getting a spare chord from the router to the dish to have handy. Apparently they have a rep for breaking (mine certainly did).