First Posting!!

Well, this is a milestone for me...I have finally got the time to start this long-awaited blog...By placing the seat of the pants on the seat of the chair for about 4 hours today I have been able to both work on our website AND start the blog...Time like this doesn't often appear in my schedule, especially at this time of year,, but there was snow (!) today so that pretty much kept us all at home and so here we are...

Welcome to all of you. Everybody wants to know how the bees are doing. The short answer is they are doing fine, if you don't count the 60% loss we suffered this past winter...(more about that in later posts; lets keep to the better news).



The miracle of bees is that they are able to regenerate them selves so fast in the Springtime. This is their growth season. In nature, they would build themselves up heavily at this time of year. The queen will lay up a storm, filling the nest with eggs, which hatch into new bees. Eventually, the nest becomes so full, another queen is raised. (normally only one queen is permitted per hive). When she is mated and ready to go, the old queen and a percentage of the workers leave the hive to look for a new spot to live. This is called a swarm, and this is how honeybees reproduce themselves.

Many people are alarmed to see many bees swarming around and clustering in a tree in a big clump, but this is a good thing. It means the bees are on the increase for the year. This aggregation of bees sends out scouts to look for likely nesting spots. Eventually, all the bees leave en masse and another hive is born.

So what beekeepers do is exploit this tendency. By controlling how crowded the hives become, (by pulling frames out, for example, and placing them into other hives or creating new hives with the excess), s/he can prevent or delay swarming. This is what Mike is now doing, dividing up the hives to make more. Some are to be sold, but most are just to build up our dwindling stock and get ready for the honey flow later in the year!

About half of our hives are still in California. Some are in the orange groves, to make Orange Blossom honey. Last year we didn't make any orange honey, so we are crossing our fingers that we will get some this year. The rest are in the Rogue Valley.

Well, bye for now. I'll try to keep you updated often!