We Made the Drudge Report!

Well, sort of.

Here is the headline:

NPR Shows Off New Facility: Wellness center, café, beehives on roof... a gong?

Those are the beehives we installed for them a few weeks back and are managing.  We will take what we can get.

Here is the article.

Making Pallets

With the bee delivery season behind us we are making splits and introducing queens to increase the number of colonies we have to 40 at our off-site apiary.  These 40 will make the trek to FLA in September or October to feast on the Brazilian Pepper nectar flow, build up in size, and then be ready for the almonds in February.

Pollinator Week!

Pollinator Week is back! Designated by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Pollinator Week will run from Monday, June 17 through Sunday, June 23. Events will run throughout the week in an effort to educate people about pollinators and their essential role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. 

DC Events

Monday, June 17, 7-9 p.m.

Vanishing of the Bees Film Screening

921 Pennsylvania Ave., SE

Thursday, June 20, 6:30-9 p.m.

Cirque D'Insectes

City Blossoms Garden at corner of 11th and Harvard NW              

Friday, June 21, 10-2 p.m.

USDA People's Garden Pollinator Festival

2th and Independence, SW

June 12 - 26

Pollinators Depicted in American Indian Art

U.S. Dept. of the Interior: 1849 C St., NW

This celebration will recognize the importance of birds, butterflies, bats, beetles, and, of course, bees! Honeybees are specifically designed to carry pollen, which they consume as a source of protein. In flying from flower to flower, bees drink nectar and collect pollen grains they store in pollen-baskets on their hind legs known as scopa. In doing so, honeybees help to transfer pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma, initiating fertilization.

Pollinator Partnership has a full list of events.

Article On Bee Shortages In the Almonds This Past Spring

 My buddy Jerry from, Rock Hill Bee Farms, sent me the following article.  You may remember that Jerry has helped us supply bees to the DC area, and has graciously allowed me to partner with him as we expand our apiary for pollination.  I am posting it as a link as it is rather large:

http://www.ilsba.com/uploads/1/0/6/4/10649295/what_happened_to_the_bees_this_spring2013_opt.pdf

The article is especially interesting for us hobbyist as it details the commercial beeks' issues with varroa last year, which translated into significant losses coming out of this past prolonged winter.  Sound familiar?

It also tries to put into perspective the science behind the threat of neonics.

Jeff.

Our Third and Season Finale Trip to Don the Not-So-Fat FatBeeMan - VIDEO

We had our final visit to Don this season, to bathe in his knowledge and pick up 35 more packages.  Most of these packages will go into nucs in our nuc-ery and be used to expand our pollination prospects.