The Bee-log

A fall morning fog hovering over our alfalfa fields What's new on the farm: Every week when I sit down to write this letter, it feels like time has raced by. Here we are at the end of September, and...

Honey boxes full of foraging bees What's new on the farm: It's been a cold first week of August for us, which is not what you want when you're in the middle of honey harvest season. Cold and dry, Andrew's...

Our crew putting out formic acid pads on the brood boxes to help kill Varroa mites in the hives. What's new on the farm: Last week, I mentioned that we put some honey supers onto the hives, but it would...

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...

A group of strong hives bursting with bees (front), right after we removed the honey boxes (back row) in late summer 2025. What's new on the farm: It's a moving target when we start the bee season, because, like all...

Sunshine hitting our hives at one of our Vancouver Island winter yards. What's new on the farm: It's hard to believe, but we are only a couple of weeks away from starting the 2026 bee season. If it seems early,...