Working with the crankiest bees ever

A very organized frame of brood laid by a Buckfast queen.

What's new on the farm:

Last week, I wrote about our new queens that arrived from California.

This week, we installed them into the new splits we made for them. After a few days, we checked the hives to see if they accepted the new queen.

By the end of the week, we saw that almost all the new hives had fresh new eggs, which means the queens have made themselves at home and have started to work!

The cool thing about getting queens from different places is finding out how their "personalities" will affect the hive.

The genetics of the queens influences the behavior of the honeybees she produces.

For instance, we have noticed that the Buckfast bees that we got from Italy last year overwintered really well. The queens are also very organized egg layers, which means the brood frames are consistently full instead of spotted with gaps all over. Generally, Buckfast bees should also be gentle and nice, although that wasn't the case with the ones we got!

Our Canadian "mutts" that we've kept over the years also tend to be a bit cranky and aggressive. But they are tough bees and are the ones that survive the winters. This is important enough for us to tolerate their grumpy attitudes.

For years there was one hive that we had that was infamous for being a super cranky hive. You could just look at it from 10 feet away, the bees would come out and chase you.

Every time you worked in it, they would light you up with stings. But this hive kept surviving, year after year, so we couldn't give up on it.

When you get stung by a bee, that sting leaves a scent (or "pheromone") that warns the other bees that you've been stung. This scent marks you as a threat.

So when you get stung, other bees will start being aggressive towards you. Some will buzz in front of your face to get you to back off, and others will sting you right away.

If you stay calm and don't panic, most bees will eventually lose interest and then go on with their day.

But this cranky hive, oh boy. This hive was a descendant of Mars, the god of war himself.

One time, Andrew and his dad were working on the beeyard with these grouchy bees. There must have been a full moon that night, because the rest of the hives on that yard were also in a bad mood.

While Andrew's dad was working on the super cranky hive, they decided to attack him, as expected. But this time, bees from all the other hives started to go after him too.

As a beekeeper, you are used to getting stung, every single day. You stay calm, remove the stinger if you find it, and then keep working.

But this time, the bees were so aggressive that his dad actually had to run out of the yard to get away from the cloud of bees that were on him.

When all was said and done, they counted over 500 stingers on him!

Andrew's dad is a big man, but with over 500 stings, he actually felt a bit nauseous from so much bee venom in his system.

In the end, he quickly recovered, although he was swollen for a few days. And boy was that cranky hive a legend in our bee farm!

Honey Lemon Chicken

I love broiled or roasted chicken! The crispy skin is drizzled with a delicious lemon garlic honey sauce. This is an easy weeknight dinner with such simple, nutritious ingredients.

I like chicken thighs because they stay so moist even after high-heat cooking. But you can use chicken breast as well if you prefer!

If you like, you can even try this with our lemon ginger honey, which adds an extra burst of citrus to the sauce!

Check out the recipe at Pinch of Yum.