New BLOGGER Profile Photo

 Photo credit to AD Murray II

OUR HONEY FLOWS EXPLAINED

 

AI GENERATED IMAGE FROM CHAT GPT

This image was created by Chat GPT responding to my request to make "a honey label showing a queen bee foraging in a native prairie flowers near the banks of the Cannon River in S.E. Minnesota".  

It is interesting that it picked up the oak savannah common to the area, the meandering nature, and general width of the Cannon River.  The crown was a nice touch from the program, but the bee itself is remarkably correct for a virgin queen on its maiden flight - the one time in her life that a queen would be seen by herself outside the hive.  Fun for a cold day.

 

SPRING BOOSTING WITH POLLEN SUPPLEMENT AND FONDANT

 

It is never a bad idea to make sure overwintered colonies have both carbs and protein to give them the best chance during early spring.  We get warm days and (at least here in Minnestota) a few "false spring" periods, where you think the cold weather is over.  The result is the queen starts to lay increasing quantities of brood - really stretching the resources of a hive that has been closed up for 5 months!

Providing supplemental feed gives the colony a fighting chance if they are kept from everyday foraging due to a cold snap or rainy weather.

This 6 over 6 frame double nuc (Lyson) went into winter a little light to begin with.  And the queen is starting her 3rd year.  She is a good candidate for grafting new queens late this spring ;-D

2026 WHOLESALE PRICING UPDATE

We are still selling 2025 crop honey, but expect to begin harvesting 2026 crop in July. The refill price is still $6.00 per lb. ($9 Pints and $18 Quarts). 

Text 507-291-1409 for refills.

Mason Jars are $1.00 for Pints and $1.50 for Quarts, if you do not have any to exchange.

FIRST POLLEN

 First pollen arriving in the hive today, courtesy of the Winter Bees working the Red Maple and Aspen(?) buds/Willow(?).

KENYON, MN HIVES SURVIVED FIRST WINTER!

 There are some VERY nice folks in Kenyon, MN who started 2 colonies from packages in 2025 on their farm.  I have been helping them get started in beekeeping, and it has been a lot of fun.

The big news is that they both made it thru the winter and are growing fast this spring.  So, we plan to split them in May.  Good going team!

DO HONEY BEES HIBERNATE? WELL, KIND OF... BUT NO.

 This is exactly what you want to see when you take your infra-red camera to a bee yard in January in Minnesota.  The camera shows the temperature gradient.  The "glowing" is heat from the wintering honey bees, keeping the queen very cozy inside the hive.  No, bees do not hibernate, but they do cluster tightly around their queen and keep warm as a group by "shivering" their flight muscles.  Much like Emperor Penguins, individuals take turns migrating to the outside of the cluster.