After taking a quick break to visit family in Chicago, It's back to the business of beekeeping for me. Spring has sprung at least 6 weeks early this year, and before you know it it'll be swarm season! In fact, I saw dandelions blooming in seattle today..its february!!!! We have placed order in for 20 new nucleus hives this year, and have over 2 dozen hives looking strong after a mild winter. We hope to split those strong hives and get up to 75 beehives for summer honey production! For now, the weather has been warm enough for the bees to be awake and eat their honey reserves, but not warm enough or long enough to put liquid feed...
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...