We spent a record amount of time with the bees in California in 2021. I think it was worth it. The January trip is all about consolidation and stimulation. The February trip is about persistent mite suppression and selective population boosting. This most recent March outing was for creating splits on a rather unplanned and […]
This has proven quite a year thus far. Looking back on March 2020 and our uncertainty about getting bees out of almonds in California amid the arrival of covid regulations, it seems like one of those tip of the iceberg moments rather than an anxiety that merited distraction. The reality is that business is very […]
A few days ago we started our California bee rounds among the almond trees. We are in two different orchards instead of one this year. The Pella load of bees all went to a ranch where we found them staged on the ends of the rows. We got through that entire group in less than […]
Our last truckload of bees indeed made it to California safely. I was most worried about the snow I mentioned in the last post potentially closing I-80 up in the mountains, but the 30″ I feared turned into less than three inches in the end. The forecast at that elevation changes drastically from day to […]
Yesterday we sent out the last truckload of hives for this year. They embarked on their trip to California several days later than anticipated due to more excitement with the weather and a small mechanical issue on the truck we hired. Hopefully those challenges don’t resurface on the way out to northern Cal. We were […]
We got our first truckload of bees on the road last week. We are getting better at handling them as we get more experienced. It still seems somewhat out of body that we are in the almond pollination picture. We resisted going that direction for quite a few years before deciding it was a crucial […]
The bee roundup has involved forging through early snow. The forecast proved extremely accurate for a change. Both snowfalls mentioned in the last post actually occurred in roughly the amounts predicted. The last round dropped around four inches. A couple of days ago it drizzled enough rain to melt off the snow. Now I need […]
Last night we had one of the prettiest sunsets of the year. The Iowa skies have proven exceptionally colorful, but yesterday evening the air seemed to glow all around. The image above shows the last moments before nightfall. The pressure is mounting as the temperature prepares to plunge, two snowfalls are forecast for this week, […]
The past couple of weeks have not lacked for excitement. Package bee supplies are short in northern California, and that has led to many adjustments for a lot of people to put the pieces together . There has been too much wet and cool weather to spur bee production and queen mating. Currently there is […]
For the last couple of weeks, the snow just keeps hitting the Midwest! We haven’t had this much snow in the first two months of the year for over a century. Impressive! I probably have a little higher threshold for the end of winter since there have been a couple of escapes to visit the […]