The last of the bees we sent to California returned to us a couple of weeks ago, so we've turned the page to beekeeping in Iowa.  The bees experienced a decent almond pollination season in February, though it started about ten days early due to a very warm January in California.  The bees therefore got stimulated early but had less time to build up before bloom.  All in all, it turned out pretty well.  The image above shows us working through the bees after petal fall.

We also accomplished a round of splitting (new hive creation) in northern California in the middle of March, so we brought back more hives than we sent.  We originally imagined sending them to Texas for splitting after the almond bloom, but our beekeeper-broker very kindly facilitated splitting space in California, which saved a lot of extra trucking and coordinating activities in a third state.  We really appreciated his support since we do not directly own or lease land in California.  The warm weather environment gives us a 4-6 week jumpstart on the season compared to waiting for suitable conditions in Iowa (and piling up a TON more work for the following month if we did not achieve it sooner).  Here is some of the beautiful brood and a Hummerbee forklift we borrowed in the background.

Right now in eastern Iowa, we are in the second round of splitting and placing bees for apple pollination.  There is a 27F freeze predicted two nights from now, so hopefully not too many blossoms open in the meanwhile.  The daytime temperatures are supposed to be in the 50s F leading up to the frost, so that should hold back most of the flowers and give them a chance to open later and set the crop after our sweet ladies visit the blossoms.  

We are still in the season of spring hope when things have not gone awry and everything is possible!  So far the bees look healthy, and the dandelions are approaching full bloom too.  I don't think anyone loves dandelions more than beekeepers--they are a trove of early spring nutrition that create a lot of baby bees if the weather is favorable for foraging.  Fingers crossed that it all goes a positive direction in the upcoming weeks!