Honey Bee Swarm

Don and Randy were able to collect a swarm of bees that showed up on the side of a swine unit alleyway. They put the bees into a 'nuc', a box that holds 5 frames of comb base rather than the 10 we use in a standard 'super'. After they rest and get accustomed to their new surroundings for a few days, Don will open it up and see if a queen is active in the colony. If so, we will have a new colony of bees! If he doesn't find a queen, we can buy one and add her to the colony.

Beeza History: 2014

Our Third Year (2014)

Happily both colonies did survive the winter and we were able to add honey ‘supers’ (additional frames where bees store their extra honey) to both hives. Thanks to the change of location, the wildflowers, and the bees’ hard work we were able to harvest 90 pounds of honey! Our colonies were still thriving as we rolled into late summer. The colonies were so robust, the decision was made to split the hives and manage four hives through the winter.

Below, Mike, Randy and Don (with an assist from Heidi) can be seen mixing the Honey Bee Wildflower Mix with cat litter to get even seeding in our new wildflower field. If Nepeta Cataria (catnip) doesn't come up, things should work out great for our growing honey bee hives.