Frequently asked questions

How many bees are in each hive?

A healthy hive will have somewhere between 50-80 thousand workers by mid-season (June-July)

What do you do with the bees in the winter?

After buttoning up the hives, outfitting each hive with a ventilation board at the top to stave off moisture, we give them supplemental feeding provisions to help them adjust from the pollen-rich Fall foliage to barren Winter conditions. The bees will then cluster into a ball in the middle of each hive and wait out this cold, harsh season.

How many queens are there per hive?

Just one! Although there are a few exceptions to be found online, 99% of the time there will only ever be one queen in a hive. Should a new queen come along, one of them will kill the other.

How do you keep honey from crytalizing?

In short, you can’t. All raw honey will eventually crystalize - this is a natural process, the rate of which is generally influenced by the specific foliage the honey was produced from. For example, buckwheat honey will crystalize far quicker than wildflower or clover honey. Additionally, there are ways to delay or temporarily undo the crystalization process such as keeping honey warm - we tend to keep our honey in heated containers (no more than 70F) during the winter months as cooler temperatures accelerate the crystalization process.

Why does honey crystalize?

The abundance of sugars and low water content in the honey causes an unstable balance through which natural crystalline structures emerge. Crystalline structures then “seed” the honey around them at the molecular level, causing a chain reaction in which more crystals form. This is why you may notice that crystalization begins in one part of your jar of honey, and this spreads over a period of time. This is a natural process, and does not mean that the honey has “spoiled.” Rather, it has just undergone a metamorphosis which has been known to preserve the flavor and nutrients. If you do not enjoy the crystals, quickly microwaving your honey or putting it in the oven at the lowest heat setting should undo this process and make your honey liquid again.

What are the benefits of local honey?

Local honey is generally stocked by independent local businesses, and we believe that keeping our money in the local economy is a good thing. On a more fundamental level in regards to the honey itself, there is the attribute of allergen exposure therapy. If you suffer from environmental allergies brought on by local plants and foliage, honey produced by bees within a 50 mile radius of your location will contain pollen grains from the plants you’re sensitive to and can contribute to allergy relief during the summer months.

How long does it take for bees to produce honey?

Truth be told, not long at all. Bees will have honey stores building within a week or two following the first fresh forage of the year. However, if you take too much honey from a colony too quickly, they could suffer starvation or be unable to adequately feed their brood. It is for this reason that we like to hold-off on harvesting honey from our colonies until they have at least two full-sized boxes full of brood and honey before we begin to think about taking from them.

What might cause a Colony to die in the winter?

The Winter time is essentially a war of attrition between a colony and the elements. The bees cluster together to keep warm and only move to find food stores within the hive. During this time, the weakest and oldest bees begin to die off, but since the populace no longer leaves the hive on the daily, the worker bees will usually live longer than they would otherwise, as their only job is keeping the cluster warm with their body heat. By the time Spring rolls around, the population will likely have dwindled to half the numbers they went into Winter with, and they will be eager to raise new brood as soon as possible once it’s warm enough to go outside and forage for food.

How far can bees fly?

Typically bees fly in a 1-2 mile radius of their colonies. If a food source is worth the trip, bees have been known to fly up to 3 miles from their hives.

What kind of bees do you have?

After trying several breeds of honeybees over the years, our apiary is currently made up of 100% Russian purebred honeybee colonies. We find them to be most suitable for the climate we operate in, and their resistance to Varroa mites and other diseases are (in our opinion), unparalleled.

What is the average life span of individual bees?

Workers live about 6 weeks during the summer, but rather sedentary in the winter they can last up to 6 months! Queens can live as long as 5 years, but usually we rarely see them last more than 2 seasons.

Have a question but don't see an answer? Submit it using the form below and we'll answer your question as best as we can! And don't worry... if we decide to post your question, your identity will remain anonymous.