Swede’s Bees

10/12/2020

My bottles finally arrived and got a few dozen filled over the weekend.

07/27/2020

Easiest swarm grab ever!

07/14/2020

06/29/2020

Had to pick up a new queen for the swarm hive. Either I didn’t actually get the queen when I captured the swarm or she isn’t laying properly. Either way, I couldn’t find any eggs so I’m introducing a new queen. In 5 days I’ll check to see if they’ve accepted her and I can release her from the cage.

06/27/2020

“🐻 The outcome for this bear is entirely dependent on how the public interacts with him. If he is left alone, he can continue his journey safely on his own.”

While bears definitely pose a threat to beehives it is important to not interfere with nature whenever possible. Don’t feed wildlife and never approach larger wildlife such as bears and bison.

06/16/2020

Another swarm grab from my neighborhood. I love that this is the second time I’ve been able to grab a swarm from right down the street from where I live. Shout out to my awesome neighbors who care about these little creatures as much as I do!

05/07/2020

My little bee helper out in the yard today 🐝

04/03/2020

Looks like the girls are finding some pollen out there. If you look close a few of them have pollen packed in the baskets on their back legs. Look for little yellow clumps on their back legs.

04/03/2020

Checked on the bees yesterday, still plenty of sugar for them to eat and I added a pollen patty to help supplement until things get blooming.

03/03/2020

02/02/2020

Happy Groundhog Day! I’m down to 1 hive but the good news is they seem to be doing great.

12/26/2019

Christmas Day and it’s almost 60 degrees. Unfortunately the bees are out looking for flowers that aren’t out there burning precious energy and now they are going to require more food. Warm winter days are harder on bees than cold ones.

11/18/2019

Here’s a wild comparison, the one in front is the tip of a needle. The other one is a stinger from a honey bee. Notice the stinger is barbed, when a honey bee stings it typically stays in the skin and the venom sac is pulled out of the bee killing her. This is why honey bees are more reluctant to sting vs. other types of bees like wasps and yellow jackets. Isn’t that neat?

09/23/2019

Did you know honey is naturally antibacterial and antimicrobial? Raw honey can be applied to minor cuts and burns and is also being used to treat sea turtles with injuries from boat props.

We've told you about our busy bees before, but did you know they're hard at work helping patients recover at our Sea Turtle Healing Center?

09/16/2019

My bottles finally showed up along with my labels so I got a handful filled and labeled. Pretty happy with how they turned out 🤩

09/13/2019

I was all geared up and ready to do hive removal today at a neighbors house. Unfortunately it ended up being a dead hive, all the activity observed the day before was robbing (probably from my bees, I’ll have a talk with them about that later). On the plus side I’m taking home a good amount of comb to melt down.