Happy 2013!

I can't believe it's been 6 months since I posted anything about bees. Shame on me!

Winterizing time:

This year, I remembered my lesson about leaving some honey in the hives for the bees to feed on during the cold months — both Apollo and Rocky have a box of frames nearly filled with honey. I'm also planning to make fondant and put that in the hives as an extra food source. When colder temps arrived in north Georgia a couple of months ago, I went ahead and inserted entrance reducers to keep some of the cold wind out, but I also made sure the outer covers are pulled forward to allow for some ventilation.

I haven't opened the hives in several weeks, so I must do that soon and "bee" sure everything is okay. Perhaps this weekend will bring a rain-free day just right for a hive check.

Repopulating Sweet Beezus:

A new package of bees is on order to be delivered in May, so Sweet Beezus will have occupants once again. In the meantime, I need to move this hive to a more hospitable location...probably closer to Apollo and Rocky, which have both had pretty good success.


This spring will mark the beginning of my fourth year of beekeeping. It seems like only a few weeks have passed since that first package of bees arrived in 2010. And oh, what an adventure and fabulous learning experience it's been ever since!