Hinegardner Orchard in Montour requested that we take bees for apple pollination in short order, so Alex and I loaded the 4×4 and headed north. With the flatbed out of commission, the job is considerably more laborious. Ideally we used the Swinger to load several 4-way pallets, and then Dave Hinegardner unloads them with his […]
Sunshine and warmth were the good news today. I had begun to wonder if the dandelion bloom would amount to anything, but I saw some respectable patches of yellow today. We’ll hope the progress continues and the bees find some nourishment and vigor. The bad news? Alex and I broke down with the flatbed at […]
It appears our colony count will wind up a little lower this year. A few years ago we were around 700, but the long winter has a number of the hives looking quite weak. That is a sad fact considering that forty percent of last year’s hives didn’t even survive the winter. The first round […]
The dandelions started to bloom a couple of days ago. I thought it might take a little longer before the bees got to visit them, but they are starting to come back to the hives with a fair amount of orange pollen. Now we have to hope the weather starts to cooperate so those flowers […]
I awoke and encountered a dampened world. Last night I pulled up to the Ebert Honey House at 11:30 p.m. and needed to make a decision. I could go home and rest from a day of splitting and moving bees, or I could gather some more equipment and move another dozen colonies to their new […]
After the interminable winter and frequent rains, splitting new colonies from the old hives is behind schedule. I finally got some nucs made this afternoon, but first I shook the last thirteen 3lb. packages that came out of California via Larry Draper. I will feel relieved to put queens in the nucs tomorrow. It feels […]
For the record, seventy degrees is too warm to have a two pound package totally blocked up. The bees were more than ready to have some fresh air at those temperatures. I had partially unblocked the entrance before I opened the lids, otherwise a lot more bees would have wound up in the air. I […]
At 6:00 Sunday morning six hundred packages from California arrived at our place. Half the garage was filled with cages. A couple of days later the bees are all at their respective homes and the garage sits empty. The neighbors stopped to ask why so much traffic flowed into our driveway They came back with […]
We are now in day 4 of the flatbed sinking into the mud twenty miles from home. Twenty-five yards from the line of hives the tires started to spin, so I backed around to face downhill. The plan was to go do my work and have an easy escape, but instead the hillside sucked the […]
Truck no move…..