Spring is here! We're making nucs and splits, and the honey flow is right around the corner! We'll soon be grafting our 2025 PA queens. Here are a couple of thoughts and updates:
- Keep baiting your yellowjacket traps weekly! The queens are starting to emerge and scout for nest locations.
- If you are trying to catch swarms, have your traps out and bait them weekly (swarm commander is a good product).
- Keep an eye on your existing colonies between now and when the nectar starts to flow steadily and temperatures regulate to make sure they are not starving.
- Watch for queen cells and crowded conditions as swarming season is now underway in parts of the state. Adding boxes or supers is a fine approach, but using queen excluders before temperatures remain steady is usually a recipe for swarming (particularly if we get an extended rainy or cool stretch).
- NUCS AND CARNIOLAN PACKAGES (all sold out) will be ready throughout the month of May (no schedule changes at this point). Because of the way our colonies look now, there is a possibility that we will have some extra for late May, but if so, this will be posted in early May.
- WAX DIPPING for April will be completed by the end of the month. Drop off anything to be dipped no later than Friday, April 18.
- Our LOCAL PENNSYLVANIA MATED QUEENS are usually available no later than the beginning of June, and sometimes mid-late May, depending on weather. We will have a choice between Carniolan and Pol-line this year once the season is underway. Those can be picked up in Carlisle or Nicholson (ask us for pickup days in Nicholson), or shipped to your location.