Honey Bees
Honey bees are not native to North America! It’s crazy to think about but they are only native to Europe and the Mediterranean. In the 17th century they were brought over and are the continents only colonizing pollinators. Other bees, moths, butterflies, humming birds, and even some bats are native pollinators. Unfortunately, honey bees do compete with some of our native pollinators. Fortunately, they also increase productivity of flowering plants around them. Not just limited to flowers, but also trees like our Poplar and Locust trees.
Our Honey bee saga has been intense.
Both of us took a bee keeping class in January 2023. This was put on by our local bee keepers association. And we learned that there was a ton more to learn. Because any time you think you know what the bees are doing, you’re wrong. We bought two nucleus hives and had very high hopes for the year.
Unfortunately, our queens did not make it with these hives vary long. Over the course of those first couple months we lost at least five queens between the two hives. Fortunately, we had a lot of help from our local bee association as well as a neighbor that has been keeping bees for six years.
I never thought the thing that would have me stumped the most on the farm would be the bugs!
