Be Like Bees

13/06/2026

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12/06/2026

From the Apiary

The Blossom Hive is blossoming 🌸
What a beautiful temperament. I see the queen every visit and marked her yesterday. Lots of brood and good stores. Dropped them down to one box. No varroa yet. 🥰
(Image for effect, it's not spring although the garden thinks so.)

Image result from stockcake.com

11/06/2026

Varroa monitoring...
1. Clean tray.
2. Lay paper towel over surface and spray with oil.
3. Insert tray.
4. Wait 48h.🐝
5. Check...if not sure use phone, magnifier or microscope to see clearly. 🔎 Yay! The spots were normal droppings. No varroa showing in my hive yet 😊
6. Repeat at least every 4 weeks unless varroa is detected, then start an IPM plan.

26/05/2026

Oxalic acid?

"Oxalic acid is a naturally occurring compound in many fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. While small amounts of oxalic acid are not harmful, this compound can inhibit the absorption of other important nutrients.
Due to its ability to reduce nutrient absorption, some people refer to oxalic acid, or oxalate, as an anti-nutrient. In some people, it can also increase the risk of kidney stones.
Certain gut bacteria can metabolize, or break down, oxalic acid. This prevents it from binding to minerals and affecting nutrient absorption.
This article looks at oxalic acid and its associated risks in more detail. It also lists dietary sources of the compound and explains how people can decrease their intake."
If oxalic acid in food binds to certain minerals within human bodies, is it doing so to in bee bodies?"
medicalnewstoday.com/articles/oxalic-acid

"Aluen CAP is for animal treatment only and is classified as a poison, so it must be kept out of reach of children and handled with appropriate care. When applying or handling strips, users must wear buttoned cotton overalls (or equivalent clothing), gauntlet‑length chemical‑resistant gloves and goggles, and work in a well‑ventilated area.
Storage and disposal are straightforward: keep the original closed container below 30 °C, protect it from light, discard unused strips 24 hours after opening, and dispose of packaging and any unused product in line with local regulations without burning."
Aluen CAP Warning on pack

"Some interesting things I noticed during this pilot trial were:
how quickly the strongest hive chewed the strips (Figure 5), how some hives stopped raising brood under the strips (Figure 6), how the queen in the hive with the lowest population stopped laying, was seen being balled by her workers, and eventually disappeared (Figure 7), how poorly some hives removed strip debris from the bottomboard (Figure8)"
honeyflow.com.au/blogs/pests-and-diseases/observations-on-oxalic-acid-drizzle-and-strip-treatments

Oxalic acid, or oxalate, is a compound in many plant foods. In large quantities, it can inhibit the absorption of some nutrients. Learn more.

23/05/2026

Visited a beautiful hive in Newport today. Amazing nectar flow, it was dripping from the frames!
Two boxes full of brood and honey and four flow hive frames capped.
No packdown for these girls yet.

20/05/2026

15/05/2026

🐝 Why Bees Swarm — and How Beekeepers Can Help Prevent It

Swarming is one of the most natural things honey bees do. It’s how a strong colony reproduces. When a hive gets crowded, the queen is laying well, nectar is coming in, and the bees feel like they’re running out of space, the colony may raise a new queen. The old queen then leaves with a large group of worker bees to start a new home.

To the bees, swarming is success. To the beekeeper, it can mean losing half the workforce right before the honey flow!

The main reasons bees swarm are:

✅ Overcrowding — too many bees and not enough room
✅ Backfilled brood nest — nectar gets stored where the queen should be laying
✅ Poor ventilation — hot, crowded hives build swarm pressure
✅ Old or failing queen — colonies with older queens are more likely to prepare to swarm
✅ Strong spring build-up — healthy colonies can grow faster than expected

Ray recommends staying ahead of the bees, not reacting after they’ve already made up their minds. The best swarm prevention starts early in spring.

Here are a few proven ways to reduce swarming:

🐝 Add space before the colony is packed
🐝 Add supers early when nectar flow begins
🐝 Keep the brood nest open so the queen has room to lay
🐝 Reverse brood boxes when appropriate in spring
🐝 Make splits from booming colonies
🐝 Replace older queens with young, productive queens
🐝 Inspect every 7–10 days during swarm season
🐝 Watch for swarm cells along the bottom edges of frames

One important note: simply cutting out queen cells usually does not stop swarming. Once the colony is deep into swarm mode, they often keep trying. It’s better to fix the reason they want to swarm: crowding, congestion, lack of laying space, or queen issues.

A strong hive is a blessing, but it needs timely management. Give bees room before they need it, keep young queens when possible, and check colonies regularly during spring buildup. Good swarm prevention means more bees stay in your boxes, more honey gets made, and fewer surprise calls from the neighbor about a basketball-sized cluster hanging in a tree. 🐝🍯

Learn more by visiting https://MountainSweetHoney.com/bees