Looking Forward to Spring

This is an exciting time of year for us. We are presently taking a bee keeping course to increase our knowledge and ready ourselves for full time beekeeping. Our brother-in-law Mike has up to this point been the beekeeper with help from us for special tasks like honey harvest, winterizing, etc. This Spring Mike will be handing over the smoker and I will be taking the full time beekeeper position as my own. To our already established 5 hives, I am adding an additional 5 hives.

Today I am ordering the hive bodies and supers. I am seriously considering using a smaller hive which will be easier for me to lift. It is called an English Garden Hive and it is an 8 frame medium hive. It is also adorable, with its copper roof. This picture is not mine....but it shows what it will look like.

I ordered 5 Nucs from Bjorn Apiaries. These are already established colonies with their own queen that come with 5 frames of brood....so this type of colony grows quickly and can produce honey its' first season.

Now we have to keep our fingers crossed that the weather conditions for the summer cooperate with us for optimal honey production.