This is a photo of our yard this morning, Tuesday. Package pickups were Saturday. Beekeepers are all concerned about managing bees in winter weather. Here is a quick update about managing package bees in the snow. (Nuc customers, watch for pickup information coming soon!) In cold weather, bees cluster together to stay warm. They consume […]
Managing Packages in Cold Weather The Honey Company Saturday is forecasted to be sunny, but we’ve seen some heavy winter weather this week. Here is some information about how to manage your bees in the cold. Installing packages in cold weather can be an advantage because bees are less likely to fly away […]
This year (2018), a Utah beekeeper approached us about selling nucs for him. His bees are overwhelmingly successful. He has 400 colonies and needs to divide to maintain. We debated about selling these nucs or not because his treatment philosophy is different from ours, and decided to go for it, but to differentiate the two […]
Question: Due to wholesalers having large minimum orders, I’m struggling to find a cheap source of timber. I’m considering driving to all the local salvage yards, to see what scrap wood I can find to make supers out of. I however struggle to identify which woods are suitable to build hives out of. Are there […]
Above photo credit to Val Wright Q: I purchased a screened bottom board last year to help with a mite count, but I never got around to putting it in my hive. Recently I have been reading several posts on how beneficial it is to use in the hot summer months for additional air circulation. I […]
We often have questions about colonies with laying workers, especially about requeening them. Often, beekeepers end up wasting the queen (and their money) when colonies think their laying workers are good enough. This video describes a method to slowly introduce the queen using a push-in cage. Here’s how you can make your own homemade push-in […]
What a great spring! This year we brought in 770 packages of bees and are excited to see your beekeeping successes! In the packages, we guarantee that the queen bee will be alive and healthy when customers take them home. But there are some rare customer error problems that can happen with the queen. Hopefully knowing about […]
As beekeepers, we often carry around a hot canister of live coals, otherwise known as a bee smoker. We use a bee smoker regularly in our operation. Here are a few tips on getting the best use of the smoker and smoker fuel without causing a grass fire. Once, at a bee pickup, a customer […]
We have received multiple questions about queenless hives lately. When this happens, we usually need to know the following. These are also questions beekeepers can ask themselves each time they inspect the hive to keep it thriving. Do you see eggs, larvae, or pupae of all ages? Do you know how to recognize eggs and larvae? […]
Photo credit for the above photo goes to Valerie Wright! Thanks for sharing this with us! Over the past 5 years, we have switched our operation to foundationless beekeeping. This decision came gradually, but matches our natural beekeeping philosophies. This post will talk about our deciding factors. Work by Michael Bush has influenced our decision […]
We received a great question and beautiful photos from Rachelle (below) and Valerie (above). The comb in Rachelle’s hive has dark wax with a thin layer of white on top. She was wondering what the white layer is and if it is cause for concern. Answer: This white coating is called “Plum Bloom.” The bloom is […]
Lately we have been receiving several questions about dead hives. If your hive did not make it, we are sad. It is always a bummer when bees die! We are working tirelessly to find ways to keep bees healthier, but the beekeeping industry is not on top of bee diseases. . . yet! While we can’t […]
Featured image (above) is from healthsciences.utah.edu. There are 2 bills about beekeeping this session at the Utah legislature that will come up in committee this week. One of them (HB0115) makes slight modifications to make it easier for hobbiests to keep bees. The other (HB0315) includes radical changes to current beekeeping laws, including making it more difficult for […]
Here is a PDF version of Primary Lesson 3 in Manual 4, “Obtaining the Brass Plates.” 1 Nephi 3:7 “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded.” We printed them on cardstock, cut down the middle and cut off the borders and used them in our class as directed by the […]
We had a successful Family Home Evening with our littles and wanted to share. It’s remarkable, sometimes, when the event feels successful, but we keep trying and share the ones that work! This Family Night was inspired by this article “Finding Jesus at Christmas” in the Friend Magazine. For the lesson/activity, we chose a small, non-breakable baby […]
Merry Christmas! Here is a free printable that we thought you might enjoy; a PDF is linked below! We’ve really enjoyed these Nativity beeswax candle molds from Mann Lake. Be careful if you start making these, as they can be addicting. We hope mixing bees with Christmas will bring you joy! Joy to the world
We have had many questions over the years about medicating bees, most recently today. In the spirit of helpfulness, we’d like to post about using Tylan for American Foulbrood (according to the label) for those who decide to use it. Remember that the label is the law and using Tylan outside of the labeled uses is […]
We are super excited about these little beauties! These up-cycled, one-of-a-kind bee boxes make beautiful furniture! They are fitted to be fully functional bee boxes too, holding deep or medium frames. Here’s a little insight into the process of making and photographing them. Legs We found many of the legs at the Habitat for Humanity’s […]
My desire as a mother is to make LDS General Conference something that my kids look forward to, both because they love the Lord and his prophets, and because it is a fun time for our family. When I was single, or even newly married, General Conference was about receiving strength, revelation, a renewal of […]
You guys, this cake is so yummy. It’s perfect for this time of year when peaches are in season! What it is: a light, fluffy, peach cake adapted from a white cake box mix. You know the one that yields fluffy, moist, scrumptious great white cakes? Yum. I got the original recipe from Our Best Bites. This […]