The weather continues it's back and forth roller coaster ride, and honey flow this year varies greatly from one location to the next. We are seeing a lot more lantern fly and hornet activity much earlier than most years. We'll see what that means...
- SPRING HONEY won't be ready until some point in July this year. Because of the fluctuating weather, we're pushing back extraction until after June. I know some are anxious for it, but we can't control the weather. As always, we'll have various sizes including wholesale in buckets.
- EXTRACTOR RENTAL is available at the Carlisle farm shop. 3 day rental is $30, 1 week is $50. Includes small electric extractor, refractometer, uncapping tank with hot knife, strainer, and bottling bucket.
- IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC QUEEN NEEDS, CONTACT US. When we have extras we post on the website, but we get specific requests from fall onward, and ongoing calls and requests for queens that we keep filling which means there are often not lots of extras (every queen takes 4-6 weeks of prep work, which uses A LOT of equipment and resources. So, if you have specific needs for this summer, give us a call or message, so we have you on the calendar. This is also the time of year where we are assessing our breeder queens for hygienic behavior, using PKB (pin killed brood) and UBEEO assays. These work the best when there is a nectar flow. Breeder queens already come from specific stock (inseminated), must overwinter without mite treatments, keep mite counts low during the season, be gentle, and produce honey.
- FRESH (IMMEDIATELY FROZEN) POLLEN is in stock.
- NEXT WAX DIPPING DATE is scheduled for Wednesday, June 17, weather dependent. Drop anything off anytime now and up to that morning.
- If you are seeing SMALL HIVE BEETLES, you may want to consider adding oil traps (filled 1/3 full with baited oil). We've added them at the beginning of June to our colonies to prevent anything from getting out of hand.
- CONTINUE TO KEEP YOUR COLONIES STRONG (without swarming--it's a fine line). Your colonies will not get stronger than they become by mid-late July, and hot, late summer weather can cause the bees to spread out over the combs, making you think a colony is larger than it actually is.
- CLEARANCE PRICES ON GLOBAL POLLEN PATTIES (they are not old, from this year), while supplies last. $3 per patty, $25 for 10. They can be refrigerated or frozen.
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THIS IS A GREAT TIME OF YEAR TO START TO ASSESS YOUR VARROA MITE COUNTS in your colonies. Remember to use 90+% rubbing alcohol or the dawn dish detergent mix in your mite washes, taking a frame of bees next to a frame of open brood for the sample if possible (MAKE SURE YOUR QUEEN IS NOT ON IT).