Walnut Farm Bees Newsletters

The rain continues... The nectar flow and weather in Pennsylvania can vary significantly from one area to the next, but for the most part, we're missing a lot of what usually provides our primary nectar flow in south central PA. Here are a couple of thoughts and updates:

1. With the poor weather and rain, keep an eye on your existing colonies to make sure that they have enough space. Undrawn frames with foundation above a queen excluder are not considered to be "space" by the bees, and when we have prolonged poor weather, the bees move back down and this can trigger the urge to swarm on the next stretch of nice weather.
2. WAX DIPPING for May will be next Friday, May 30th. Drop off anything to be dipped (with your initials or name written on it) between now and noon on the 30th.
3. Our LOCAL PENNSYLVANIA MATED QUEENS will likely be available sometime in early June, but we've been slowed down by this rainy weather. We do have non-local queens available weekly, including Carniolan, Pol-line, and Italian. Contact us to order.
4. We have fresh (immediately frozen) spring bee pollen in stock now. Spring honey will be available sometime in the next couple of weeks (depending on rain). We have flavored creamed honey, hot honey, and espresso honey available.
5. We still have 1lb blocks of beeswax available. Larger bulk sizes will again be available in late fall/early winter.