Chinquapin Honey LLC

04/22/2026

Just goes to show how every colony has it’s own personality. Hive #1‘s honey super is completely full and capped. Hives 2,3 and four have frames full of nectar but they are no where near being capped. Dilemma: harvest one honey super and throw it back on to fill gain or let it sit for 8 weeks on the hive?

04/22/2026

I started using the Hive Bloom program to track my apiary. For the last 10 years I used BEETIGHT which was an excellent log program, but the developer got too busy with his life so he killed it. HiveBloom appears to be adequate but it is only my first day. I went ahead and subscribed even though it appears j tried to use it in 2024 when I learned BEETIGHT was shutting down. Let me know if you use Hivebloom and how you like it. I want to import the data from beetight and google sheets that i have used since the big shutdown.

Here is the link: Check out HiveBloom: A simple beekeeping management app!

A simple beekeeping app for managing better bees.

04/15/2026

Mine swarmed today, National Swarm Day. Typically a bright sunny day between 10-2 o’clock.

04/14/2026

Yup, NATION SWARM DAY, right on time..i am out of town. Hive #3 swarmed. But we dont know where to send Natasha.

04/14/2026

Today is National Swarm Day. Check yer hives!

04/14/2026

I sometimes get inquiries from followers and I try to respond but I get tripped up wading through the META business suite screens and annoying menus and notifications disappear. There was a recent inquiry about NUCS but I am not making any this again year. Sorry.

04/14/2026

This is how it begins, luckily I am in the outer banks kiting.

03/27/2026

March 27, traditionally it is the day every year that I go in and remove feeding shims, clean out any WAC and throw on the honey supers. This year however, when the temps were around 80 degrees two weeks ago, i took a peek, removed the feeder shims, noticed WAC in two of the four hives and put on the supers-two weeks early-then it got cold again to where we are today.

Yesterday I noticed what I recognize as the suggestion of SWARM behavior (right on time) (get ready Natasha!)-the massing at the front entrance. These are two of my most active colonies. Hard to say if it is because they are the first to get the strongest continuous daily sunlight.

Anyway, National Swarm Day is still over two weeks away in April 14, but still plenty of time for excess stomach acid and mayhem.

It has been my experience, that once they think or you think they will swarm, hey they are going to swarm. Ye, I know 1/3 of my honey crop. I can go in and frantically and fruitlessly make more room, make splits, reverse split and make NUCs, but for me any more , thats a lot of work. I am not in it for the glory of beekeeper manipulation which is rewarding to see it work, just some honey that I sell out of every year. It’s here!

03/10/2026

I added two new frames to each super and added some wax. The small hive beetles overwintered well.

03/10/2026

The winter sweaters have come off along with the feeder shims and excess food. The bees have started to fill the feeding shim with WAC. THERE IS ALREADY nectar in the hives so the supers are going on today about two weeks early. This could be a recipe for disaster this year. I would normally be my naturally disruptive self and rotate the boxes to make more room, but i will leave them bee..awaiting national swarm day APRIL 14th, which i predict will come early this year.

03/09/2026

If they are happy, I am happy.

02/21/2026

We are back from our 4 week visit to New Hampshire and the bees are absolutely thriving it seems. I went in just now to see how much fondant I needed to make. Despite the cold weather we‘ve had, three of the four hives still had fondant in the feeder shim! i broke a fondant disc in half and distributed it to #1 and #4 hives. I would say 3 more weeks before my supers go on.