In most of Pennsylvania, the spring and summer nectar flow is nearing an end, with the basswood up north coming to a close, and clover also slowing down in the southern part of the state. With a few exceptions, it's likely time that most beekeepers are extracting spring honey. Around the corner, for some areas of Pennsylvania, there will be the possibility of honeydew from the spotted lanternfly. In many areas of the state, late August will bring the start of knotweed, goldenrod, and other fall varieties of nectar and pollen. The most significant thing to remember is that we are now past the summer solstice, and honeybee colonies need to be strong and healthy RIGHT NOW if they are expected to survive until next spring. Don't ever trade more honey for the colony itself. Make sure your bees are healthy, pest/mite free, and have the nutrition and feed reserves that they need. This is also getting towards the time of the year when varroa mites migrate from primarily being in the drone brood to the worker brood, which can very rapidly increase mite counts. Colonies with even moderate varroa mite loads are now experiencing a build up in viruses, which can wipe out the colony in the fall or winter.
- 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.
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CONTINUE TO KEEP YOUR COLONIES STRONG (you want full boxes of bees to maintain the strength and reduce likelihood of pests such as hive beetles or wax moths). 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.
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KNOW 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).
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SPRING HONEY is available in 1lb sizes, and 2lb/5lb sizes are coming in the next two weeks. Bulk (buckets) will be ready by the end of the month. Prior requests will be filled first for buckets, so contact us as soon as possible if you have bucket requests for spring honey.
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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.
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IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC QUEEN NEEDS, CONTACT US. We will continue selling our locally-mated queens until early August, when we will stop selling local queens for the season. We currently have some Pol-line ready to go. The last round of Carniolan will be in early August. We may have some non local queens in stock for late August and September.
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FRESH (IMMEDIATELY FROZEN) POLLEN is in stock. Stop by on a Friday to get some or schedule a day to pickup.
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NEXT WAX DIPPING DATE is scheduled for August 11, weather dependent. Drop anything off anytime now and up to that morning.
