The past 3 days have been unseasonably warm with temperatures around 50 degrees.  The bees have been flying heavily and only one inactive hive was seen at the house.  It’s still much to early to tell how well the bees faired over the winter, we still should have a good 2 months of cold weather.   Time will tell.

Typically we would have nearly half our mating nucs out in the field and would be on our 3rd grafting cycle.  But we are only on our first cycle and if it stays too cold or wet this weekend it may be a complete bust.  Interestingly this was the first time I’ve every had customers call and ask if we could delay package bees because of the cold weather.

I just hope this cycle breaks soon…

This does mean however that if you also sell honey, bees and supplies you can safely link to the state associations website swarm removal page without redirecting your clients to a potential competitor.  Though honestly if anyone considers me a competitor I’m flattered,  I don’t have enough time in the day to compete with anyone and my queens, nucs and honey sell out well before the demand runs out.  Frequently this means I’m searching for other reliable sources I can refer my potential customers to because I don’t have the stock or inventory to help them.

My daughter would love these suits (she’s a style freak).  But for myself, I’ll stick to my jeans and boring white jacket, if a wear a suit at all.

This workshop is designed for people who would like to get started in beekeeping, those who have had previous beekeeping experience and want to get back into beekeeping, or those who just want to know more before taking the plunge.

Topics covered will include basic honeybee biology, races of bees, package bees versus nucs and where to get bees, how to start a hive, new and used equipment, keeping bees in a residential setting, feeding, inspections, swarm control, disease and pest  management, producing honey and other hive products and overwintering. Information on package bee, nuc and equipment vendors will be available at the workshop.

When: February 19st from 8:30AM to 4PM

Cost: $25 – Includes book and one year membership to the association.

More details can be viewed here:  2011 Beekeeping Workshop

Is this the cause of CCD and vanishing bees?  Probably not, but widespread use will have significant negative impact on the honeybee population and is just another problem commercial beekeepers struggling to stay in business have to worry about.

So Fresh and the producers of Vanishing of the Bees have started a petition urging the EPA to ban the sale of this poison that threatens bees.   You can view the petition and other information on the EPA memo and CCD here:  Petition to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

So why the big increase in prices?  I don’t have the contacts to really say but my guess for the increase beyond the usual is due to increased demand with more beekeepers starting up every year and packages from Australia not being allowed in this year.  In addition Georgia and many of the other package producing states had a rough season last year.

For now I’ve made the decision not to change my queen or nuc prices for this coming year, but it’s looking like I’ll have to make a significant adjustment next year with the increase in equipment cost and labor.

Unfortunately though we’re subject to increases in prices for the packages we get trucked in for local pickup for our customers.  Details on packages are posted here.

So for a while both the old and new will be running side by side but will eventually have the same content.  So please forgive me if the duplication is a bit confusing and please don’t trip over the tools on the floor.

My daughter, Nicole, has been beekeeping with a mentor since she was 9 years old.  She is a Sophomore at Aurora High School, and has had a booth at the Hudson Farmer’s Market for the last three years.  She recently heard about a grant project that the Pepsi Corporation has put together, and submitted an idea for a grant.

Nicole would like to help the local farmers by putting beehives on their farms and orchards.  She currently is working with several farms in the area.  Nicole’s idea is to do more.  She has been asked by quite a few of the farmers at the Market to provide hives for their crops and would like to be able to help, but as you know, this is costly.  We are hoping Pepsi can help.

I am writing to you and all the area societies to ask for help.  Pepsi only gives the grants to those who have received enough votes from their peers to reach the top ten in the voting.  We need votes from people who realize the need for increasing the honeybee population and the need to get young people involved in beekeeping.

Can you please check out Nicole’s idea at www.refresheverything.com/savehoneybees.  You will see that she is dedicated to this project.

It's been a cold winter so far this year and it looks like the cold weather will be around for awhile.  The 10 day forecast doesn't show anything above freezing.  There isn't much one can do with the bees besides repairing old equipment and preparing new for the upcoming year.  And of course worry how the bees are doing in this weather.  In some respects this is the hardest part of the year with little you can do but worry and prepare for the best.  It won't be long though until things warm up a bit and we can get out to do weight checks and do some emergency feeding though..

One of my goals for this year is to be a bit more organized and keep this website more up to date.  Bees, the day job, business, the untimely passing of my father and life in general were more than overwhelming last year and things like updating the website and adding the new products we now carry were pushed to the back.

So, on that note we're happy to introduce new products to our online store by request, 8 frame equipment and assembled beehive kits among other new products.   We also welcome Mike and Marc as new part time employees to help us keep up with our orders in the wood shop.

Also as a side note, UPS shipping calculations appear to be fixed now and shouldn't be grossly over estimating the shipping cost, especially on larger orders.  While we always corrected the shipping after an order was placed, it was sometimes shockingly high.  UPS rates have gone up again this year by more than 4.9%, but if you get a shipping estimate that does seem too high I'd be happy to check into it.