Beekeeper's Blog — beekeeping RSS

We just got word this afternoon that the 2013 new package bees are arriving this FRIDAY!!  In years past, the packages typically arrive much later than scheduled, like two weeks later.  This year they are actually 4 days early! We will be beefing up our stock at the Growing Washington/Alm Hill Gardens certified organic, diversified berry, flower, and vegetable farm in Nooksack, Washington, as well as our stock down south in Sumner, Wa on friends Amy and John Hanawalt's Fairyland Farm. Two of our packages will find their way to the new Growing Veterans farm in Lynden, Wa, established this year to help post-911 vets.  We bought an extra suit, gloves, and hive tool so we can teach the guys...

 While the snow still steadily falls on our relatives-back-East head's, we are enjoying the first signs of spring here in Western Washington.    It always kind of feels like spring here, when you're from a freezing in winter/hot and humid in summer place like Northern Michigan.  But today I saw crocus blooming, in both purple and white.  Mini daffodils are up, and the markets are starting to fill with tulips and daffodils grown in hoophouses.  Hazelnut and pussy willow are both giving off tons of pollen, and a few cherries in the right places are blooming pink.   The bees have been flying for weeks, and most of the hives look steady coming out of what we call Winter.  There's...