Brrrrrrr!

This morning Jackson and visited the hives early to wrap them with rolled insulation. After multiple days of -windchills this winter the upcoming -30 - -40 forecasts I didn't want to submit them without any protection. It was -10 windchill when we visited. We heard two hives clearly buzzing keeping their heat up. Hope it helps!

Stages of honeybee

Guess what?

Last year our Loess Hills Honey Company honeybees visited 750 million blooms to get our amount of honey we harvested. Going for a cool billion next year!

Visit on 12-26-13

With the holidays I was delayed in getting this entry in. Visited orchard hives to supplement with crystalized honey, perfect for their needs. Both hives were active as it was 60 degrees when I opened top boards. Good numbers as well. They still had left over feed patties but they had been working on them. Today it's currently 3 degrees and the next week looks brutally cold, so hoping for the best with all hives. Getting ready to add more colonies for spring.

Visit to Prairie Hawk Colonies

12-18-13

Temperature at time of top board removal. 50°

Microtel bees seemed fairly lethargic but a nice grouping in middle of box. Some flew around as I added honey for their supplemental feed.

Did same with larger colony with honey super still not removed. Good numbers for winter it seemed. 

HyVee Mall of the Bluffs Honey Sales

Our raw honey sales have taken off at our 2nd HyVee location. A sweet partnership  has made for brisk sales. Thank you Shirley for keeping our honey stocked!

11-30-13 Visit

Nice warm evening (57°)for a visit and supplemental feeding. Thanks Cole Gallo for the photo. Both orchard colonies seem to be doing well.