A huge thank you to all of our 2014 Hive Share sponsors, who were a major help in the expansion and running our our apiary this year! 

This particular hive was sponsored by Ursula Vernon. The queen was Carniolan and the bees built up slowly but caught up really well by the end of the season!

You can learn more about our hive share program here: https://ofbees.com/hive-shares/

Ursula’s hive!

This toad we saw a few times over the season, near Ursula’s hive.  He must have made his home somewhere close by.  The hives tend to attract ants and other insects which the bees keep out, but they seem to be constantly trying to find a way in and cleaning up around the hives, which attracts toads, birds, and other critters.

Hive sponsored by Andrew Bowman!

Andrew’s hive. These bees were Italian and built up quickly, maintaining a strong colony the whole summer long.

Hive sponsored by Jay Vargas!

Jay’s hive. These bees were Carniolan and built up more slowly but had probably the most bees at the end of the season and produced quite a bit of honey!  They were also some of the most aggressive we had this year and were quite defensive/feisty when we worked with them.

Hive sponsored by Jeanette Thomas!

Jeanette’s hive.  These bees were Italian and maintained a modest colony throughout the year.  The queen was delivered to us with one of her rear legs missing but she was still able to lay eggs fine (though they usually weren’t centered in the cell like they usually are) and was still there at the end of the season (sometimes bees will re-queen their own hive if the queen has a problem like this). It was quite fascinating to observe!

Hive sponsored by Jody Grassel, Natalie Rachel, and Jeffrey Rogers!

These bees were Carniolan and built up fast and furious, maintaining large numbers throughout the season and ending up our most productive hive!  Interestingly, there is a bit of ‘drift’ in the bee yard – this hive is on the end and downwind of the others, so bees tend to get blown offcourse or divert there so ‘endcap’ hives like this often end up the largest and most cantankerous hives in the bee yard. This has been our experience all three years of beekeeping so far!

Hive sponsored by Shinnie & Erilo and Kim Burkhart.

These bees were Italian and the most mild-mannered hive that we had this year. They built up well, kept up good numbers, and produced a good amount of honey for their size!