It has been another roughish year for the bees, though not so bad as last year. We only had one colony really do well this year, and it currently seems to be struggling -- there does not seem to be any sign of a queen after a late swarm. We were able to capture a different swarm and start a new colony, hopefully it will be able to get itself up and running before the weather turns too cold and wet.
The good news is that the one hive that has been doing well for most of the summer has produced about 30 lbs. of honey for us so we will be able to get a small shipment to Bi-Rite for the fall and hopefully for the holidays as well. We are just working on getting it into jars and labeled now, so look for it in less than a week.
Please visit our shop to purchase Noe Valley Honey and other hive products from the Pollen Princesses.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
First Hive Visits of the Year
It's been while since the last post because it ended up being a tough year for the bees. Of our five hives, only two managed to hang on.
The diseased hive seemed to bounce back only to completely vanish a month later -- I suspect that was our first experience with colony collapse, but am not really sure. The other hive at our friend's limped along for a while, then petered out. They never really showed signs of illness, but the population just never got very big. One hive at the Dolores location suffered the same fate. There was a small population in November, so we let them go as they were but they did not make it through the winter.
Overall, 2010 was a very cold summer but also fairly dry for the area. I suspect that the bees did not get out to forage as much as they needed and that even when they did get out nectar was scarce. Consequently we simply did not harvest any honey last year. Anything that the bees did collect we left for them to get through the winter.
The two hives that we have left are bustling now, though. The one at Dolores is chock full of bees and I hope to have a chance to explore the hive more thoroughly to see how much nectar and pollen they have been bringing in, and to make sure they are standing up to mites and generally healthy. The hive on our friend's roof is also very busy, but a little smaller. We added a new honey super to the top and are hoping that they get right to work on it. There was plenty of brood, and plenty of honey, and quite a bit of new nectar.
The year seems to be off to a promising start.
Please visit our shop to purchase Noe Valley Honey and other hive products from the Pollen Princesses.
The diseased hive seemed to bounce back only to completely vanish a month later -- I suspect that was our first experience with colony collapse, but am not really sure. The other hive at our friend's limped along for a while, then petered out. They never really showed signs of illness, but the population just never got very big. One hive at the Dolores location suffered the same fate. There was a small population in November, so we let them go as they were but they did not make it through the winter.
Overall, 2010 was a very cold summer but also fairly dry for the area. I suspect that the bees did not get out to forage as much as they needed and that even when they did get out nectar was scarce. Consequently we simply did not harvest any honey last year. Anything that the bees did collect we left for them to get through the winter.
The two hives that we have left are bustling now, though. The one at Dolores is chock full of bees and I hope to have a chance to explore the hive more thoroughly to see how much nectar and pollen they have been bringing in, and to make sure they are standing up to mites and generally healthy. The hive on our friend's roof is also very busy, but a little smaller. We added a new honey super to the top and are hoping that they get right to work on it. There was plenty of brood, and plenty of honey, and quite a bit of new nectar.
The year seems to be off to a promising start.
Please visit our shop to purchase Noe Valley Honey and other hive products from the Pollen Princesses.
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