Kulture Club Martha's Vineyard Kombucha

Kulture Club Martha's Vineyard Kombucha Artisanal small batch raw kombucha brewed on Martha's Vineyard. Because you’ve got guts! Available island-wide at select retailers.

Free delivery to your Martha’s Vineyard home. Wholesale kegs may be shipped off island.

09/10/2026

Love me a good . Honeybees measure out comb perfectly with their bodies.

It's unusual for bees to be building comb this late in the year, but when resources are abundant, they will draw comb and raise drones. We have to stay vigilant to prevent swarming, which could mean the death of the colony at this time of year. Though this one is huge, could probably use a brood break!

Two weeks ago, this was an empty and foundationless frame, just a place holder since I pulled a honey frame to extract. They built all this drone comb in two weeks, and the queen laid brood, workers started capping them off. Often brand new comb is white, but the nectar they are making brought yellow comb from is probably from summersweet and goldenrod.

I let them keep this comb, minus the drones, and replaced a different frame that had less comb with the extracted frame. The extracted frame had worker cells, which is more important for raising the winter cluster, then they will back-fill with honey, eat through that during the winter, and raise spring brood. Drone comb holds more honey, so I'll eventually move this frame into the super (no room to do that now, the super is full of honey waiting to get capped). If it was earlier in the season I might just have cut out the drone comb as part of IPM. That's still an option for next season.

Last pic is post-inspection, they mostly went back in, and it was the end of the day. Massive colony, I always underestimate how many foragers are gone during the day and fill the hive in the evening, especially because it was already so full before that. This colony was acting swarmy, but I did find egg frames. Maybe they will finally finish capping off more honey frames so I can extract, and give them back empty comb to fill with the fall nectar flow.

09/07/2026

Where's Waldo? isn't easy, it's a bonus but not totally necessary to be a beekeeper. The more you look the more you'll see. Keep your eye on her when I zoom out, so you can see how she might look on a populated frame.

Some tips:
- she's usually on or near an egg frame
- amber splayed legs, elongated abdomen, bald thorax
- look for the court ringed around her
- she might be a runner
- moves deliberately when egg-laying
- some queens run away from the light to the back of the frame, especially if the hive hasn't been inspected in a couple weeks
- she might be under a clump of bees
- when pulling apart frames to lift, bees may festoon heavily between the frame she is on and the next one, they are always trying to protect her
- the box she's in may be quieter and calmer than the others when you pull them apart
- the buzzing may go up a notch when you're pulling frames near hers
- dark queens and striped queens are harder to spot than amber ones
- virgin queens have a smaller abdomen that may be triangular, usually no court, usually run fast, may pipe
- if you see eggs, don't worry about finding the queen. She's been there in the last 3 days, and if something happened to her, they can raise a new queen from the eggs (except now it's too late in the season to raise a new queen)

When you see her, it's unmistakable. If you're not sure, you're probably looking at a drone.

Did I miss any other tips? How do you spot the queen?

This week's special at West Tisbury Farmers Market today, Saturday Sept 5, 9-noon at the Ag Hall. Local Concord grapes...
09/05/2026

This week's special at West Tisbury Farmers Market today, Saturday Sept 5, 9-noon at the Ag Hall. Local Concord grapes, and wild-foraged rosa rugosa and wild berries.

I literally named it Martha's Vineyard, because this is what the island tastes like. Though this time instead of berries is beach plums, which are technically drupes (stone fruit), not berries. There weren't a ton of beach plums, but the ones that were there were plump from the rain. I think the blooms were impacted by the wet rainy spring we had. Bonito weren't biting, so I had to pick these instead. Enough for a batch or two of !

09/02/2026

After extracting, I put the beeswax cappings outside so the bees can clean it up before rendering. Make sure it's away from your hives or it might inspire robbing. All bees welcome, and ants, and even slugs. No wax moth please. They do a great job going through all of it, tunneling down, it's all nice and dry instead of sticky. For future candles and other projects

08/31/2026

Opportunity - robbing screen door is open. I've found dead bumblebees in honeybee hives, so the screen can protect attempted robbers by keeping them out of strong hives!

This hive was undergoing a mite treatment, so I had left the bottom door open to help with ventilation. They can also vent through the screen, but during the first week of formic pro, the vapors are thick and heavy, it's better for them to vent in the direct line of airflow. I put robbing screens on after the spring flow and before dearth (though this summer we had no dearth 🙏), so hives full of honey can more easily defend against mostly other honeybees trying to take their honey. In the fall, yellow jackets are a big concern as well. A few solitary bumblebees is not a big deal, most likely the colony will evict or kill them. This one found its way in, I hope she gets out alive.

The robbing screen (when the bottom doors are both closed) acts like a maze. Ideally you install it in the evening when bees are all inside the hive, then they find their way out of the entrance at the top corner. You can even remove the entrance reducer, as the screen is reducing the entrance. Robbers smell the honey, and try to fly in directly, but are blocked by the screen. The aluminum is shielding the path of house bees exiting the hive and going up to the top entrance, so robbers don't learn the way in. Even if robbing honeybees or yellow jackets figure it out, a smaller entrance is easier to defend, and slows down an invading force. Thanks Morgan at the bee club for introducing me to this valuable tool several years ago, haven't had a hive robbed out since.

I remove the screens and put back the reducer for winter once temps drop. It's harder for bees to keep the bottom board clean of dead bees when the screen is in place.

08/30/2026

When your plan and the honeybees' plans are not aligned...

I have foundation-less frames for possibly harvesting cut comb honey. I also like foundationless in the brood nest. But this is why sometimes foundation is better! I'll straighten it out.

Perfect day for a Goldie's Rotisserie breakfast sammie with local booch! Or egg rolls, fresh lemonade, coffee, and/or Yo...
08/29/2026

Perfect day for a Goldie's Rotisserie breakfast sammie with local booch! Or egg rolls, fresh lemonade, coffee, and/or Yommi super food bar, while you pick up farm fresh veggies and seafood for dinner. Don't forget flowers for your favorite person (you 😉). Missus Biskus for music

08/28/2026

Sorry for the shortage! I'm working on it. I'm trying to get this done for the weekend, but it's a three day process, meanwhile I still have to inspect beehives, bottle kombucha, and look at the moon and stars...

I'll have a few jars Saturday West Tisbury Farmers Market , then afterwards if I get this batch bottled and labeled on Saturday, will deliver to Ghost Island Farm and North Tisbury Farm

I actually did better this year, kept chocolates in stock until now, in years past I ran out of candy-making time in July, so I'm counting this as a win. Brown sugar toffee, 70% cacao dark chocolate, and roasted pecans. This also reminds me that I have to make more chocolate avocado mousse. Busy busy Friday, I promise not to look at the tide chart for fishing...

With beekeeping, some days are calm and sassy so you can text a friend back a selfie of your fun day at work, and some d...
08/27/2026

With beekeeping, some days are calm and sassy so you can text a friend back a selfie of your fun day at work,

and some days are a hot mess

you just need to pull the honey from these monster hives while they're stinging you through the suit.

I'm here for all of it. But stinging and lifting 50 pound boxes of honey do make me want to lay down and rest on the beach, after rinsing off ash and poison ivy in the salt water. Blessed to be living on

08/25/2026

Queens marked white were born in 2026. She's a good one! I love how queens efficiently check every cell to see if it's empty and suitable before laying an egg, I like to think I'd do the same. 😎

I bought this queen for a hive that was queenless for several weeks and was dwindling. I gave them some brood frames with eggs to keep them calm, but I got nervous and bought a mated queen. By the time she arrived, that hive raised a new one who is now mated and laying eggs. I made a split from one of my monster colonies, and she's laying like gangbusters. And that is the story of why I now have 7 personal hives (and now manage 24 total 🙃). At least I do like increasing the genetic diversity of local honeybees too 🤷🏽‍♀️

Address

132 Winyah Lane
Vineyard Haven, MA
02568

Telephone

+15086932052

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kulture Club Martha's Vineyard Kombucha posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share