It has been a harsh three years. I havent been here much, I didnt take care of my bees, because LIFE got in my way...   Wife and Mother In Law are now back HERE in IA, the new building is up, the concrete is in, and I had TWO beehives left this spring, after three years of NO CARE.. I will be splitting those two hives this year!!  I also have ten packages sitting in the garage, courtesy of Tim Wilbanks that I will be hiving tomorrow to get my program BACK on track.  I will, as the time and rainy days allow, be updating the website.. I know I have said it before, but I Have high hopes this time I will be able to stick around and get some things DONE!  In the plans for the next couple of years, is going to be a bee shed..  Bee house? one of those little buildings meant to put hives in.. on skids so I can move the whole thing when I need to! I will take pics and vids when that build commences. In the meantime... Syrup is made, hives are ready, bees are waiting! TTYL!

Last Spring started rough, with storms that took down one of my buildings. It took a large part of the year to get it rebuilt. Add to that, lost friends and family, weddings, A GRANDSON, The wife buying a house on the Mississippi I had to remodel. (Still working on that but almost done.) and a plethora of other things and my bees were severely neglected.  However, I hope to have a lot of the mess dealt with by this spring. Still a lot to do but I THINK I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, so my plans to update the site and work on my bees a LOT this year look good!   I hope to finally get the site updated with new pics and vids, so stand by!    Scott

April fifteenth and it is snowing so hard I cant see from my front window across the pond. Weather like this is frustrating, but it is weather like this that usually makes me wait to order queens. I have gone through hives in late March in the past, with temps already in the upper 60's. This year has not been cooperative at all.
   The trees, specifically the maples all bloomed in March, then it froze, and the buds fell from the trees...  Two days ago it was 70 degrees, and there were new blooms... today we are in the grip of an April snowstorm. It sometimes makes me wonder how trees OR bees survive such crazy weather. As beekeepers, all we can really do is wait. make sure the hives you have that are out of resources have sugar cakes, winter patties etc on them, and keep our fingers crossed!
   Have patience, spring will arrive eventually!

I am back in Iowa, and at the current time waiting for the weather to cooperate so I can go through hives and see what I have got, after spending 7 months in Maine. My hives didn't get treated or winterized last fall, so I have a bad feeling. But at the same time, I see bees swarming the maple blossoms.
   Time to get this mess cleaned up and the Apiary into shape, and I will take pics and be adding to the website as the spring and summer progress!
   Scott

Two entries in August?
   Yep!   Hives have been treated and winter prep is beginning.

September is arriving, time to make sure you have finished treating. Look your hives over and combine the weak ones, or move weaker hives into nucs and overwinter them that way.
   How much honey do your hives have? Do you need to feed syrup to insure they have enough?
   Doing your organizing now gives them time to do their own, and be as ready as they can be for winters arrival.
   Lets all HOPE, that it is a mild winter like last year!

   It has been a very busy summer. My wife is working in Maine, so I am attempting to do everything, from mowing the yard, cutting fields and making hay to increasing my hive numbers. Time has been hard to come by. I have increased to over 80 hives, I expected to do better, but the TIME factor has hurt me.
   A picture of my home yard with nucs and new pallets;

   More pallets are built and ready to move the nucs into.
   The rains this year have come almost perfectly in this area. At times, they were a little too intense, but the timing has been good. The bees built up exceptionally well, despite being split so many times.
   Now that August is here, i noticed a lack of incoming nectar, and that the hives were getting lighter, so I have started feeding, and the bees are taking the syrup readily. This will allow them to continue building up and storing feed for winter, as well as making comb.
   Almost time to get the vaporizors out and treat for mites. I will try to get a picture of the operation in progress.
   With a little luck, the Goldenrod will bloom, and the natural nectar they produce will help the hives prepare for winter.
   Now is the time to start looking at the hives to assess their condition. As September arrives, it will be time to start combining weak hives to make strong hives and finish feeding and preparing for winter. Don't forget to treat for mites! It is important to insure your hives are as strong as possible. Treating NOW will insure that the emerging bees will be healthy and strong, so that the generation they raise will go into winter well prepared.
   Start making your candy boards, or sugar cakes. Don't get caught if winter decides to arrive in October rather than November!
    Keep your bees happy and healthy!
   Scott

It has been a long winter, but not a harsh one. I lost four hives and four nucs, so am not in bad shape...
   The decision has been made to head to Maine with 100+ hives next spring, so I have been building hives the latter part of the winter, and still have a LOT more to build.
   I am building them on a 4 hive pallet design, and will get pictures for the next blog entry..
   The time has jumped ahead on me, and I have four medium box tall hives that are already overflowing with bees, and its only the middle of April...  Apparently the bees know, because they are building up in leaps and bounds.. so this week I will be making queens and preparing to do splits. With a little luck, I can get some pictures of all of that as well.
   I will be using the Waynes bees I got from NC to use as the donor hives for eggs to make new queens. The waynes bees came through the mild winter very well, and are booming already. their ability to resist mites not withstanding..

    So, Spring! The Dandelions have JUST popped.. the bees are in build up mode. Hopefully you have all gone through your hives recently, cleaning bottom boards, reversing and doing any other spring prep.. this includes treating for Varroa if you have not already done so.  Get in those hives! In this area, it looks like swarm season is JUST about to arrive... two to three weeks early, so dont get caught off guard!  Other keeps I know have already had swarms, so no excuses to keep putting it off!
   I have a cut out to do from a duck box that I will try to get pictures of, and several other cut outs pending.. looks like its going to be a hectic spring, trying to get all of this done AND build up to 150 ish hives before fall!   
    I do have a fall back plan if I don't make it.. I can buy March packages next spring and feed them to build them up for polination, but I prefer to have them all ready to rock without buying packages.. we shall see how well this goes!
   I hope, EVERY hive you have made it through winter, and that you get 140 lbs of honey from every hive this summer!
  Keep your bees happy!
   Scott