Queens Have Arrived

Queen will be shipped in a mini cage with a candy tube.

Queens have arrived, open noon - 6 pm today, Thursday.
I will be getting weekly shipments of queens through the month of May.
There will be a 5 queen limit this first week. If the demand turns out to be too strong I may have to lower the limit on the number of queens per purchase.
 If you don't get what you want, there will be another large shipment in a week.
I want to be fair to all my customers and make sure everyone has an opportunity to get a queen.

What is happening now on the bee front

Right now the second delivery beekeepers should be checking for queen acceptance (looking for eggs) in the next day or two.
 The spring is running about 7 - 10 days ahead of schedule. Dandelions are blooming everywhere around the metro area. Normally they bloom in the first week of May.

Wild Plums in bloom. They smell wonderful. I like just to stand and take in the fragrance and watch and listen to the bees working the plum flowers.

 I was driving down 94 this afternoon and noticed wild Plum trees starting to bloom. Plums are usually the first fruit trees to bloom. So the fruit bloom is coming on strong. Other fruit trees will be blooming soon. There will be widespread good quality pollen available wherever fruit trees are. The challenge will be cool temperatures and the bees being able to get out and pollinate.
The weather forecast is for cool temperatures. Tonight, lows in the 30's. I don't think we will see a frost, so good news to the fruit growers. This cooler weather may chill some brood on any outlying frames.
 When it gets cold the bees cluster will contract, this keeps the core of the colony warm. But sometimes the bees can pull off outside frames and the brood on the fringes can chill and die. So if you start seeing dead partially developed pupae in front of your hives in the next few days, you can guess this is what happened.
This cooler weather looks like it will be sticking around for the next 10 days or so. The bees may have a harder time getting out to collect pollen. The highs may be in the upper 50's and low 60's. But the window for pollen collection may only be a couple hours a day, if it is raining there may be no pollen collecting at all. Pollen patties should be on all colonies for the short term.
 After the fruit bloom is over, there is usually a dearth in pollen for two - three weeks. Pollen patties should be on during this time. The pollen patties will help keep colony populations increasing as the nectar flow approaches.
 Divides are happening as soon as queens are available. The cooler weather may slow divides down a bit. But over the next three weeks divides are the order for strong over wintered colonies. If a strong colony is not divided they will swarm for sure and that will negatively impact the hives honey collection.
Nature's Nectar LLC does buy divides if a beekeeper has had good wintering success and does not want any more colonies.

How to do a divide

I have heard of swarming starting to happen. If you have strong overwintered colonies, swarm control measures should in effect. Going through the hive and looking for swarm cells. Remove the swarm cells before the bees swarm. If a hive swarms a beekeeper does not want that virgin queen to emerge from the cell. Right now in the upper midwest, the odds of a virgin queen getting properly mated are slim to none. If a virgin queen gets loose in the hive and you try to requeen the hive, the virgin queen will kill the queen you just paid $30.00 for every time. Don't let it get to that point, remove the swarm cells.

swarm cells on a frame

How to do a divide  Click this link for dividing a colony. It lays out the procedure of how to do a divide.

Add Supers? Dandelions are on the horizon

Dandelions, we love them.

Dandelions are starting to pop across the metro area. This is the first major nectar flow of the year. If you have a strong overwintered colony, you need to put supers on now. A strong colony that has not been divided is packed with bees and brood. Failure to put supers on can lead to a hive that is honey bound. All available cells will be full of honey and the queen will have no place to lay. This will affect the hives population in a negative way.
 It is not uncommon for a strong hive to fill two supers of honey from dandelions.
New supers without any drawn comb should be put on without a queen excluder. Check them every three days. Once the bees start making comb and putting in a little nectar on a couple frames, slip the queen excluder under the supers.

Queens

 Queens for divides will be here in a week.
 I do queens here right now for package bee acceptance problems.

What do eggs look like, New brood in frames

Frame of new comb and larvae from tiny to big

Frame with eggs and pollen. The pollen is the yellow stored in the cells. Nectar is on the top, you can see it shimmering in the cells. The eggs are white and very skinny in the center of the cells. Double click on the photo to full size it. You may have to look closely at the pic to see the eggs.

First delivery beekeepers first check

Seven to ten days after hive installation is the time to check for queen acceptance. You are looking for eggs. You don't have to see the queen just eggs.

Plastic cages recyle

The plastic cages are recyclable. They are a #5 on the recycling scale
The most frequently recycled plastics are #1 and #2 bottles. Other plastic items marked #3 through #7 - like butter tubs, single-use cups, video tapes/cassettes - can occasionally be recycled. These types of plastics are sometimes included in curbside collection. If your service provider does not currently accept these materials, some recycling centers in Minnesota do accept them via drop-off if you separate them by code. For instance, the City of Coon Rapids recycling facility accepts #1, #2, #4, #5 and #6 plastics.
Check with your local service provider to see what types of plastics they accept, and keep an eye out for special plastics collection events, such as garden plastic collections (seedling trays, pots, hanging baskets, etc.) at garden centers/nurseries each summer.

Monday Pickup Schedule

Please stick to the pickup schedule.
The Pick up day will be Monday

Go by the first initial of your last name (example: Swenson, pick up at 8:30 - 9:30 am)
N - R  7:30 - 8:30am
S        8:30 - 9:30am
T - Z   9:30 - 10:30am
A - B  10:30 - 11:30am
Crew Lunch 11:30am - 12:30pm
C - D  12:30 - 1:30pm
E - G  1:30 - 2:30pm
H - J   2:30 - 3:30pm
K - M  3:30 - 4:30pm
Open Time (if the schedule time is not possible)  4:30 - 7 pm


The store is closed during bee pick up. We will sell:
Pollen Patties 2 packs ............. $9.00
Pollen Patties 10 patties ......... $37.00
Pollen Patties 40 lbs .............. $80.00
Feeder Pails ............................ $7.00
ProSweet Syrup ....................  $45.00
Sales tax is included in the pricing.
We will take cash only, no credit cards

Second delivery - Friday update

The second delivery is all three lb packages.
The tentative delivery date is Monday April 18th.
Please watch the blog for updates as the date can change.
The 3 lb cages will be all wooden cages.


This second delivery is all 3 lb packages.
Monday or Tuesday will be the main pick up day and we will follow the schedule below: 
I will also be here Wednesday if the schedule does not work for you. On Wednesday the store will be open.
 Please Stick To The Pick Up Schedule Below.
 If everyone came at once there would be a several hour wait to get your bees. With the schedule, everyone is spread out through the day no one is here more than five minutes.

We will go by the first initial of your last name:

N - R  7:30 - 8:30am
S        8:30 - 9:30am
T - Z   9:30 - 10:30am
A - B  10:30 - 11:30am
Crew Lunch 11:30am - 12:30pm
C - D  12:30 - 1:30pm
E - G  1:30 - 2:30pm
H - J   2:30 - 3:30pm
K - M  3:30 - 4:30pm
Open Time (if the schedule time is not possible)  4:30 - 7 pm

The store is closed during bee pick up. We will sell:
Pollen Patties 2 packs ............. $9.00
Pollen Patties 10 patties ......... $37.00
Pollen Patties 40 lbs .............. $80.00
Feeder Pails ............................ $7.00
ProSweet Syrup ....................  $45.00
Sales tax is included in the pricing.
We will not take credit or debit cards because we are working outside and will have no way to process the card.

Map to Natures Nectar LLC

The Bees are in. This delivery is all 2 lb packages.
The pick up schedule is the post below.
Map to Nature's Nectar LLC - - - http://www.natures-nectarllc.com/location.html
I made two videos of what the road looks like so you can see what to expect of the drive. They are both made about a mile from my house.
Coming from the south, driving north on Manning Ave


If you are coming from the north heading south on Manning Ave

April 12th pick up schedule

This first delivery is all 2 lb packages.
Tuesday will be the main pick up day and we will follow the schedule below: 
I will also be here Wednesday if the schedule does not work for you. On Wednesday the store will be open.
 Please Stick To The Pick Up Schedule Below.
 If everyone came at once there would be a several hour wait to get your bees. With the schedule, everyone is spread out through the day no one is here more than five minutes.

We will go by the first initial of your last name:

N - R  7:30 - 8:30am
S        8:30 - 9:30am
T - Z   9:30 - 10:30am
A - B  10:30 - 11:30am
Crew Lunch 11:30am - 12:30pm
C - D  12:30 - 1:30pm
E - G  1:30 - 2:30pm
H - J   2:30 - 3:30pm
K - M  3:30 - 4:30pm
Open Time (if the schedule time is not possible)  4:30 - 7 pm

The store is closed during bee pick up. We will sell:
Pollen Patties 2 packs ............. $9.00
Pollen Patties 10 patties ......... $37.00
Pollen Patties 40 lbs .............. $80.00
Feeder Pails ............................ $7.00
ProSweet Syrup ....................  $45.00
Sales tax is included in the pricing.
We will not take credit or debit cards because we are working outside and will have no way to process the card.

2 lb Plastic Package Bee Cage

Using a 2 lb plastic bee cage. This cage will be shipped on the first delivery. Watch this YouTube video to see how to use it.

Package Bee Pick up Schedule

The tentative delivery dates right now are:
First Delivery --- Monday, April th All 2 lb packages
Second Delivery --- Monday, April th All 3 lb packages

Please Stick To The Pick Up Schedule Below.
 If everyone came at once there would be a several hour wait to get your bees. With the schedule, everyone is spread out through the day no one is here more than five minutes.

We will go by the first initial of your last name:

N - R  7:30 - 8:30am
S        8:30 - 9:30am
T - Z   9:30 - 10:30am
A - B  10:30 - 11:30am
Crew Lunch 11:30am - 12:30pm
C - D  12:30 - 1:30pm
E - G  1:30 - 2:30pm
H - J   2:30 - 3:30pm
K - M  3:30 - 4:30pm
Open Time (if the schedule time is not possible)  4:30 - 7 pm

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