The weather may be up and down as spring continues, pollen sources increase, and the first nectar flows begin. Make sure your colonies have enough food prior to the nectar flow, particularly during periods of rainy or cool weather. If they are large colonies from overwinter, you'll want to give them plenty of space to avoid swarming!
- This is a good time to put out your yellowjacket/wasp/hornet traps. Keep them baited throughout the rest of this month to try to catch some queens.
- Spring bee orders are coming to an end. We still have a few mid April Carniolan package bees for Carlisle and Nicholson, PA. These will have 2026 Latshaw Carniolan queens. Get yours now while they last!
- APRIL PACKAGE BEE ORDER UPDATES: For those who ordered April package bees, we are currently on track for Carlisle pickup the evening of Saturday, April 18. Pickup at the Carlisle farm shop. For Nicholson pickup we are on track for the afternoon/evening of Sunday, April 19. Pickup at 803 Brecht Hill Rd, Nicholson, PA.
- NUC UPDATES: For those who ordered May and June nucs for Carlisle and Nicholson are still on track, dates will be finalized by late April, and you will receive an email/phone call.
- Early May Bee Class: The hybrid bee class for Saturday, May 2nd is almost full (a few spots left). It will be held from 9am-12:30pm at Walnut Farm Bees outside of Carlisle, PA.
- We are stocked up with bee supplies for 2026. We have a 2026 price list posted, with a few changes. We have a few new products on hand this year, from RTU by Apibioxal to Scalvini queen cages for queen isolation.
- For those who are interested in wax dipping, we expect to have the first wax dip day on April 21, if the weather cooperates. Feel free to drop your equipment (with your name and phone on it) off anytime between now and then. We will contact you when your equipment is ready for pickup.
- We will have 2026 queens by early June. April queens are by request only (most are spoken for now). All queens are grafted from breeder queens. Late May/June queens will be Latshaw Carniolan, followed by Pol-line 2.2 from VP Queen Bees breeder queens, with possibly some Buckfast available in early August.