Hive Update 2022 April

Hello all! Just wanted to post a quick update on the status of our colonies! We have five hives that went into winter.... and drumroll please.... 5 hives made it through winter!! We are super excited about this development. As a beekeeper you hope and pray all winter for mild temps, and decent conditions. 

We had a mild day in the 70s in March and the bees were able to bring in some pollen from the maple trees. This will help start their brood rearing. We supplemented their food supplies once in March to ensure they will not starve. Spring starvation is the most common time for a hive to starve. We are cautiously optimistic about our chances having made it this far.

Our plans for the coming few months are to make splits, basically dividing our colonies to prevent swarming. No one wants 30,000 bees flying through their neighborhood. Although swarms are generally mild mannered (There is nothing to defend no honey, no baby bees, no home). We hope to make splits in early April. This will give colonies a chance to grow before the main honey flow of basswood (Linden).

We also purchased two nucleus colonies and hope to expand our apiary. Currently we have three out yards, it would be nice to have a multitude of hives in one central location to make it easier on the beekeeper. 

It is also swarm season!!! Our hope is to catch many new swarms by setting out swarm traps. This is essentially free bees. Swarms generally come from strong overwintered colonies so their genetics are generally of a survivor stock. Which is ideal. Our plans are to make a few traps and set them out. This is a bit like fishing so some trial and error may occur with finding the best locations.

With our other business items we are continuing our foray into soap making by making different soaps. We are currently making a new item "Sensual Rose Soap" which is pretty nice. Also we are trialing a few more soaps and lip balms too. We would also like to start making honey sticks. So we have a lot going on!! We are toying with the idea of going to farmers markets and other craft fairs to promote our fledgling business. First, however we need more inventory. Our honey supplies are dwindling as the honey was a huge hit from 2021. We hope this can continue in 2022.

Sorry for the wordy post! If you have any questions or want to be a part of our beekeeping journey feel free to contact us! We love having people inquire about beekeeping.

Mike and Erin Joppa

Sweet Local Honey Co