Honeyside Bee Co-Op

Inspection day! Our hives are rocking 💪 🐝 ! They’re loaded with bees, some are tryin to swarm, and the nectar flow is starting to trickle, it could be a stellar honey year… FINALLY!!!

My raspberry bushes are buzzing with happy honey bee activity! Raspberry flowers are pretty neat, they provide nectar and pollen for the girls. Look closely and you can this little forager is working on a nice pair of pollen pants, and is also sucking up some nectar ❤️ 🐝

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve kept bees in my own garden… I sure missed seeing them every day 💛 🐝 These girls are graduating hive duties with an orientation flight and will be foragers for the rest of their life.

We had some girls move into an empty hive!!! Woohoo 💛 🐝

🐝 Bee-lieve it or not... our honey girls are swarming already! If you happen see a huge cluster of bees, called a swarm, please contact me, or another beekeeper 🐝🐝

Please DO NOT call an exterminator, and please DO NOT spray them. These sweet little honeybees are not hostile, they have no eggs or honey to defend when you see them like this. They're just stopping for a quick break on while scout bees look for a permanent home.

Swarms are starting to pop up across the region! The girls are just looking for new homes, let a beekeeper rehome them for you!
SAVE THE BEES!

I got my first swarm call today 😮 I’ll bet you all know what post is coming next!! 💛 🐝

It’s finally 🐝 day!!!! I love that they have so much forage and sunshine to kick off the season 🌸 ☀️

I don’t know where they’re getting it, but they are packing in some nice pollen sacks ☀️

These are some pretty sassy girls, they apparently didn’t want their pictures being taken… I got my first sting of the season… is it weird that I was kind of greatful for it? 💛🐝

This colony… 🥰

They were started from a swarm that I captured a few years ago, and they’re still rockin’!

I will definitely bee producing queens from this colony

Can anyone spot the varroa mite?! 👹

Varroa Mites Are a Honeybee's 8-Legged Nightmare | Deep Look Every year, up to half the honeybee colonies in the U.S. die. Varroa mites, the bees’ ghastly parasites, are one of the main culprits. After hitching a ride ...

What do you think? Has honey helped with your seasonal allergies?

How effective is honey for seasonal allergies? Uncover the truth about using honey for seasonal allergies. Learn why there is no scientific evidence to support this age-old remedy.

I’m making some changes to my Host-A-Hive program for the 2024 season, it was a TOUGH call, but I will be reducing the number of hives I keep in hopes that the hives I do keep, stay healthy 💛 🐝

There are so many bee lovers out there who want to host hives, I tried to fill the niech, but I need help!!

If any beeks in the Spokane are interested in managing hosted hives, please let me know! I will happily blast your information on my social media, website, and in an email to those who have previously applied to my program.

Please share this with any beekeepers you know! This is such a fun gig, but I’m only one person, who turns out isn’t super woman ♥️

I unfortunately won’t have time to mentor anyone, but you can learn a lot about my program through my website, beespokane.com.

Thank you all for supporting me and the girls these last few years, I can’t express how much I appreciate it! 💛 🐝

HaBEE New Year!!
The girls and I can’t thank you enough for your support in 2023 🎊💛 🐝

I know it seems like strange timing, but this winter is perfect for planning your water wise, pollinator garden!

I’m working with the Spokane City WaterWise team, to grow the SpokaneScape program, and to add some fun new incentives for 2024!

If you want to feed some pollinators, and save some water, you should check out our website!

spokanescape.org

If you’re hoping to learn more about bees, or maybe keep a hive this spring, I recommend signing up for this class… You’ll learn everything you need to start beekeeping with confidence 💛 🐝

Beekeeping Classes | IEBA

Beginning Beekeepers! Expand your beekeeping knowledge. Sign up for WPBA's Apprentice class today. https://www.wpbeekeepers.org/services/classes

I’m headed north to camp for the week, so I probably won’t be reachable. If you need anything, I will get back to you as soon as I’m home! 💛 🐝 ☀️ 🌊

Beth, at Snapdragon Flower Farm, deserves everyone’s support! She’s local, she loves bees, she works her butt off to feed the bees, and she has a way of looking at things that will make you smile. 🧡

Simple and strong. Rudbeckia being the beautiful workhorse that they are 🧡

It’s pretty cute watching the girls on milkweed, their little toes get sticky with pollen, but they don’t care, they just want more of the good stuff!

Milkweed is another must have for any garden, it’s beautiful, drought tolerant, native, and is a great source of forage for pollinators and butterflies.

My honey hut is up, and I'm ready to extract your honey! If you're in the Spokane area, you can visit my website for more information, and to schedule your honey extraction!

Honey Extraction Honey Extraction Service is available from July 1st to October 31st.

Gosh… beekeeping is tough!

U.S. Honey Bee Losses

This chart shows the estimated share of bee keepers' colonies lost in the United States from 2016-17 to 2022-23.

To read on, go to: https://www.beeculture.com/u-s-honey-bee-losses/

Anethum graveolens, or as most of us know it, is an easy to grow annual herb, that looks great in any garden. While we humans find it’s leaves and seeds are highly aromatic and tasty… the bees just love the flowers!!

Wait… it’s the solstice already?! How did that happen?
What are the girls foraging on in your garden today?

Want Swarm Calls?
I’m going to be out of town for a few days, and would like to send my swarm calls to locals with experience capturing them. Is anyone interested?

I captured the cutest little swarm I’ve ever seen this morning 💛 🐝

This is more than likely a secondary cast off, the queen is probably unmated. I will put them in my queen castle or observation hive, with a frame of honey and pollen, so that I can keep a close eye on their progress. I don’t have experience with these small swarms, so I’m not sure how they will do 🤞 💪

2:30 AM… yes AM swarm call, lol. I went back to bed, but got up as early as I could muster to capture these sweet girls. 💛 🐝!!

Who likes blanket flower ( )?

The bees do… all of the bees!!

I’ll be working all day tomorrow, and they just happen to have some! If you’re hoping to attract more pollinators to your garden, you should come visit us, we have a little bit of blanket flower and lots of other plants that the girls really enjoy 💛 🐝 🌻