Spring is springing

With the mild winter and a relatively warm past couple of weeks, the bees have become rather active.  We noticed that there were some vigorous orientation flights happening, but with a still present threat of cooler days and some rain, we were reluctant to remove the entrance reduction we had put in place.  (I couldn't find our official entrance reducer, so I just propped a stick across part of the entrance, and that has been working fine.)

However a few days ago we saw a stream of bees backed up on the hive front as they tried to return from their orientation flight. 

I pried up the hive cover a little and saw that the population appears robust. The threat of rain has passed, and the temperatures seem to be past risk of dropping below the 60s during the day, so we decided it was time to give the colony some more room to expand their storage and keep them from feeling crowded and prone to swarm.  Today we added a honey super with some new foundation. (The old comb we kept had a little moth damage, so we are going to treat them with sunshine and then freeze them to eliminate any eggs and larvae before introducing it into the hive again.)

We dusted both of the hive bodies with powdered sugar, just as a preventative measure to help the bees knock any mites off of themselves to try and keep them at bay.  This colony is hyper-hygienic, and while mites are a persistent problem, the bees have kept them in check pretty well last year.

The hive bodies are pretty full, except the end frames. Hopefully that bodes well for a strong start to the year and a plentiful harvest.

Thank you! Happy New Year.

We are all sold out for the year.  Many thanks to everyone who was able to stop by our little stand and take home a sample of the Princesses' work.  They will have more for us to put out in the Summer.

There are still stirrings when the weather is warmer, so we anticipate a pretty easy time for them to re-establish in March.  Until then, have a wonderful new year.

Farewell to the old year and welcome back to the new light.

The bees are still cozy in the hive.  On warmer days, several still venture out to forage what they can.

Beginning this week, the days gradually become longer (mornings will come earlier to begin, and gradually the evenings will last later).

So while the cold days are still ahead of us, we recognize the promise that spring will return.

The trees and flowers will bloom again, nectar will flow again, and there will be more honey to harvest.

For now, though we are down to our last two jars to sell in our little stand.

We are grateful to everyone who has purchased a jar or two from us, and sincerely hope that our bees' efforts have brought a little pleasure to everyone who has stopped by.

When these last jars are gone the stand will be closed until early Summer, 2026, when we anticipate we will be able to begin extracting the new year's supply.

Until then, stay safe and warm and enjoy the joys the season has to offer.

Good Yule. Happy Holidays. Have a wonderful New Year.

With joy and gratitude from the Pollen Princesses.

Holidays are upon us.

Honey production is over for the season.  The bees are still out foraging while the weather is warmish, but we've removed the honey supers and what they are collecting will provide for them and allow them to keep their own stores of honey until it is cold enough that they are forced to remain in the hive, clustering to keep warm and protect the queen.  Then, they will depend on their honey stores for sustenance until spring.

Because they seem to have less problems with invasive pests this year, they should have a good head start when spring arrives because they won't have to repair the wax comb as much or do as much cleaning. Once they can forage for nectar, that can go directly to honey production rather than wax production.

We will also be hunkering down for the rainy season and relying on our own canning for the winter, keeping soul and sprit warm by celebrating the holidays: Thanksgiving, Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year.... reminding ourselves that the blossoms will return in time.

One of my very favorite holiday traditions is fruitcake.  Mock it all you wish, but a good fruitcake--well spiced; with dried apricot, figs, dates, candied citron and cherries mingled with hazelnuts, walnuts and/or almonds; rum soaked and aged slightly to allow the flavors to develop--is a delight. Italy has their own take on fruitcake, from Siena: a dried fruit, nut tart robustly spiced with ginger, clove, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, coriander and a little black pepper, and of course, honey--named panforte, "strong bread".

It starts with honey and sugar, boiled gently together until they reach a soft-ball stage.  This syrup is poured over a mix of dried and candied fruits, citron, cherries, and maybe some candied ginger, blanched almonds and hazelnuts that have been dusted with all the dried spices, a little flour, and just enough cocoa powder to add a rich depth to the flavors.

The mixture is pressed into a round pan and baked at a medium temperature for 20 minutes to bring everything together into a nougat-like consistency. The flour merely helps everything adhere and prevents the caramel from becoming too sticky.  If you are gluten sensitive, any gluten free blend works just as well since the flour doesn't provide the structure.

There are multitudes of recipes out there, but once you have the basic proportions of nut, fruit, and honey syrup to flour, you can use whatever fruit and nuts make you the most happy and spice it up to your heart's content -- lemon zest? cardamom? a little chile? more cocoa? Dust with generous confectioners sugar and let the celebrations commence.

Winterizing

Now that we have extracted the final super of honey from the hive for the year, it's time to consider setting up the hive for success in overwintering.  We have had less of a mite problem this year, thanks in no small part to investing a few more dollars in a mite-resistant queen.  This colony has consequently been VERY fastidious about hygiene, sealing off everything that could be a potential entrance for pests with propolis, and disposing of debris (and infested brood) diligently.
Last year, I think the mites reached a level where they compromised the strength of the hive and we lost to colony to a host of pests including wax moths and hive beetles.
There is evidence this year of wax moths trying to make their presence felt, and we've seen several hive beetles scurrying around, but--from what information we can find--so long as the colony isn't being overwhelmed by mites, they should be able to keep the beetles and moths at bay.
However, we want to make sure the hive cover is well sealed, reduce the front entrance opening and we'll probably want to put the hive bodies on a solid bottom board in place of the screened bottom board we have now.  That will minimize the ability of pests to enter, and interrupt the reproduction of the hive beetles (whose larvae leave the hive to mature in the ground under the hive and then climb back inside).
The bees are still pretty active right now, but shortly after Halloween we'll make one last check, dust with powdered sugar to help disperse any stray mites and minimize entrances.
In the temperate climate here in Sacramento, the bees won't have to expend too much energy keeping warm, and will still be able to get out and forage on the nicer days, so I have high hopes that they will weather this winter better than last year's colony.

New, and final extraction of the year

Last weekend we were able to get into the hive and remove the last honey super for the year.  This involves removing each frame of honey one by one, brushing the bees off and back into the hive and removing the frame to a new box away from the bees.

Brushing bees from a frame of honey to be extracted.

We were able to extract the honey this weekend, and ended up with just exactly 2.5 gallons, 30lbs.  This batch is really fun.  Very dark in color, it's moderately sweet with a somewhat bitter finish -- very autumnal.  What makes it exciting though is it has a cedar-y sort of nose and a decidedly toffee (coffee?) taste with woodsy notes.

Wax comb emptied of the honey.

We have let it filter through a paint bag (bought fresh for this purpose) to remove the bits of wax that inevitably end up in the centrifugal extractor.  And will put it in jars soon, so look for it in our little stand sometime in the next week or so. Then you can try it for yourself.

New bees are still orienting themselves

We're about ready to extract the final super of the year.  I'll post that once we have started.  We have removed the super, but have not had time to take care of the frames much so we wrapped them to protect them from wax moths and hope to start extracting this afternoon or tomorrow.    

Meanwhile, I captured this pretty dramatic orientation flight.

One can tell that it is an orientation flight by watching the bees circling in figure-8 type patterns around the entrance.  They are checking for landmarks to ensure that once they venture out foraging, they will be able to recognize the way home.