Checking the Hives

We caught up with Farmstead Manager Dustin Busby in late August as he went out to check on Blackberry Farm’s beehives. The bee program continues to evolve as we work to support a healthy and happy home for thriving hives to enjoy life on the Farm. As we near a new season, Dustin shared how things are going with our favorite honey makers!

What are you doing when you’re checking the hives?
Dustin: We are looking for different things – things like pests, health of the hive, vigor, etc. In this case we were looking to make sure the new queen was laying eggs.

How often do you all need to go in and check on things?
Beekeepers have different opinions on this. I like to leave them alone more than some, but when it’s a newer hive, we check them a little more frequently – at first, every couple weeks, then every couple months as they acclimate and we can tell they’re doing well.

You mentioned you were looking for the queen. Why do you look for the queen, and how do you find her?
The queen has a much different anatomy than the others (and we also have a little white dot on her). We were looking for her in this case to make sure the hive accepted her and that she is laying eggs. When you introduce a new queen, it’s natural to keep an eye on things and make sure she’s being accepted.

As we approach Fall, what’s next for our hives?
Our next priority is getting them ready for Winter. We are not taking honey this year so that they can have plenty of food source to keep them healthy. We are hoping to come out of Winter with a lot of hives and then hopefully split them this Spring.

How are our bees doing? Has it been a good season for them?
It’s been a rough year, but we’re happy to put in the work to keep creating happy hives. We have a couple hives that are doing great! We added some new hives too, and hopefully they will go into Winter strong.