Where do the bees go to the bathroom?

A new creamer getting wheeled into our production space!

What's new on the farm:

Happy Spring!

We have been writing about what we've been doing to get ready for the spring season, but there's a lot of work that the bees are up to as well.

During the winter, the bees focus on slowing down their metabolism, keeping warm in their winter cluster, and eating their honey stores.

They don't have calendars to tell them when the spring equinox is, but there are other ways they can tell.

The obvious one is temperature. When outside temperatures reach 50–60°F / 10–15°C consistently, they begin to loosen from their warm cluster.

They can also tell when there is more daylight as we move further from the winter solstice. That way, they don't start their spring chores too early, even if there is a brief period of warm weather in January or February.

When they detect that spring is here, they get to work on their spring jobs.

Honeybees are very sanitary and will not poop or pee in their hives. So they hold it until the weather is warm enough for them to take "cleansing" flights and relieve themselves outside.

The warm weather also means spring cleaning. Workers will remove dead bees, repair the wax combs, and throw out debris.

The queen is also busy at work. In the late winter, she is already laying eggs. But when the weather gets warmer, she increases her output so that there will be enough workers for the coming season.

The warm temperatures signal to the bees that food will be available, and that they can grow their populations again.

Once the early spring flowers start blooming, the bees will begin collecting fresh nectar and pollen to rebuild the stores they used up over winter.

Now that spring is here, there's no turning back. We go full steam ahead until the bees are put away next fall!

In the Kitchen

Today, I'm excited because we received our newest shipment of creamer machines.

Over the last year, we have been increasing our production capacity. When we can afford it, we order one or two more machines at a time.

Thanks to you, we have been able to grow steadily, without getting too ahead of ourselves.

I'm particularly excited about this shipment because I also ordered a mini creamer. It has 1/6th of the capacity of our usual creamers.

Why so small? Well, we have been making note of how much you've been enjoying our infused honeys. We are always busy trying to keep our Lemon Ginger and Strawberry honeys in stock!

In fact, our Strawberry Honey was only supposed to be a limited run last summer. But it was so popular, we added it to our regular lineup.

I'm a big foodie. And it seems like you are too! One of my favorite jobs here is coming up with new products.

So, this mini creamer means we'll be able to test and launch mini batches of new flavors, more often!

I have been working on a new honey flavor that we will be launching this spring. Once we get the mini creamer unpacked, I will be able to try a production run.

So far, all our tasters have loved it. We can't wait for you to try it too.