The bees are coming back to the prairies

Our crew in BC get hives ready to move back to Saskatchewan.

What's new on the farm:

It's time! Our chapter on Vancouver Island has closed for the year.

The bees are currently on a semi-trailer, traveling across the prairies. They will be in Saskatoon tonight!

The end of May is a big transition time for our operation. Once spring begins on the prairies and the flowers start to bloom, we can move the bees back home.

Before the bees leave BC, there is a lot of work to prepare them. The top priority is making sure they are as healthy as possible.

In Canada, there are strict rules about moving bees around the country. Every time we want to move bees out of the province, we need to have them inspected by the provincial apiarist. They check the hives for symptoms of various diseases and pests.

If we don't meet certain thresholds, we aren't allowed to go. This helps control the spread of pests and diseases.

Unlike other types of livestock, bees fly to wherever they want! If you have a problem in your hives, you could risk sharing it with other beekeepers in your region, and vice versa.

The past few weeks, we have been inspecting the hives, and treating them against the nasty Varroa mite. If you remember from previous newsletters, the Varroa mite is the main reason why most of our hives didn't survive the winter.

These mites are becoming tolerant to conventional treatments now. Andrew is always researching new treatments and products to kill these mites. Most of the treatments we use now are organic acids, or a mixture of essential oils.

Different treatments have their pros and cons, and can't be used all the time. Some treatments are good at killing the mites on the bees, but not the ones that hide in the comb with the pupae. Other products need certain weather to be effective. And some can become too hard on the bees and the queen if the weather is too hot.

And you can't treat at any old time of the year. You have to hit them as hard as you can in the spring, and then you have to stop treatments before the honey flow. Then, as soon as the last box of honey is harvested, you treat them again to make sure that they are as healthy as possible going into winter.

It's a balancing act with so many variables!

When the inspector came to check our hives this year, they took samples from 25 hives. We always get nervous for some reason. Mostly because our ability to move home hinges on the success of the inspection.

We happily found out that out of all those samples, we only found 1 mite! And we were clear on all other diseases!

So now we get to come back home to Saskatoon. Tonight, I will unload the semi-trailer of bees at our home yard. Then tomorrow Andrew will arrive home and begin the work of spreading out the bees to our outyards. Once all the hives are in place, we will be settled in for the summer and the upcoming honey season!

Honey Garlic Shrimp:

Sometimes when I'm throwing dinner together in the late afternoon I have trouble coming up with a quick and easy protein dish to round out my meal.

Honey garlic is a classic combination that works deliciously on shrimp. This recipe marinates quickly and only takes a few minutes to pan fry.

Check out the recipe at Sally's Baking Addiction!