Dandelion Apiary

We don't have little Autumns, but I did bring one quart-- ONE-- For those that want to go BIG.

MARKET DAY! We will be heaving honey across our table this afternoon at the Ross Twp Farmers' Market -- both seasons are available and supplies are dwindling! Small size Autumn honey is currently sold out.

Pulling honey... SO HOT. 😳

OI! Yeah, it's hot out -- and this is late notice (I forgot to post yesterday!) -- but we WILL be at the Ross Twp. Farmers' Market THIS AFTERNOON. We have both seasons of honey still available in multiple sizes and as penance for my late post, enjoy a few recycled memes I made last summer. ;)

HAPPY JUNE! We're back into Ross Twp. Farmers' Market season and will be waiting for you THIS WEDNESDAY with all the sweet goods you've come to expect.
A rainy Spring is likely to lead to a light/scarce harvest this year-- so buy early lest we run out!
Current prices: https://dandelionapiary.blogspot.com/p/current-prices.html

Back from vacation and just doing a walk around the hives-- everyone seems calm and busy. Will have to dig into them another time. With all the rain, concerned they're not able to forage much nectar for honey this year. 😬

No time to get in the hives this week but they're all looking calm and busy preparing for storms. Hopefully new queens are mated by now.

Trying to figure out how I can train the bees to lick all this pollen off. That's possible, right?? ;)

Queen Pam, Queen Kelly, and Princess Erin-- see the difference between queens, unmated queen and worker bees around them?

Hard sting on my finger. Might be time for new gloves after 8 years?

8 years ago today we OFFICIALLY became beekeepers!
My wife's infectious enthusiasm brings such a smile to my face... who would have thought we'd ever do this??
Also fun to see our original gear so CLEAN and new! We're such experts now. LOL

Creek went nuts over the past week. Our shared bridge survived but my "boardwalk" to the bees was mangled. Rebuilt it but WOW the mud! Need some dry days.

If you're into this sort of thing -- here's an playlist I made of our honeybees.

ASMR Honeybees A collection of videos of our bees at work, without my rambling/distracting narration. Many are slow motion so that you can better see what they're doing.

TOMORROW ! ! Bring your and grab that sweetness.

Spring 2024 UPDATE! We will be selling honey this weekend in the North Hills -- details on the blog:

Spring Update 2024 Pittsburgh area honeybee keepers who urge you to SHOP LOCAL. Know your beekeeper, know your honey.

First hive checks last week. We're starting season with three full hives. They're all building populations up and finding lots of pollen and nectar so far.

8 years ago today we were building and painting our first batch of bee hives.

Found our ladies out in force in the cool sunshine of late afternoon working hard for pollen off these hyacinths.

Mark your calendars -- our first scheduled sales event for 2024 will be April 6.
We will have Spring and Autumn honey for sale.

As suspected... We lost a hive; probably a combination of cold, open front entrance and moisture/condensation.

Hive check one dead 120823

Beehive check and prepping for winter; investigating a suspected dead colony 120823 We are Pittsburgh area beekeepers who urge you to SHOP LOCAL. Know your beekeeper, know your honey.Check out our website at http://www.DandelionApiary.comAnd...

Earliest we've ever lost a hive... At least, I'm pretty sure we lost one. Details on this thread-- but I think you'll have to manually go to Twitter app to see because it doesn't repost correctly here OF COURSE. 🙄

X / ?

Set up and ready to go-- bring your honey money to North Hills Middle School, 10am - 3pm TODAY🤙

LAST CALL!! This is our last sales event of 2023.
Stock up on your honey and catch us TOMORROW at North Hills Middle School. If you want 2 pound jars, you MUST contact us by TONIGHT for pickup at the fair. See you there!

We might have laid the groundwork for a fierce battle this week. Consolidating hives and couldn't find a queen or signs of one in one of the hives, even though they were very calm. So rather than assassinate the "spare" queen, we caged her and moved her in. She's distinctively all black so we'll find out who reigns on the next check.

LIMITED!! We have 4x 1 pound combo gift sets and 2x 1/4 pint gift sets-- Plus our usual sizes, both seasons. Come and get it tonight and Saturday, just north of Ross Park Mall.