Beekeeper Zamboanga City

15/08/2026

I Have 3 Hives… and I Almost Lost Them All! 🥲

It's been a while since I last posted. The past few weeks have been quite a journey with my bees, and things definitely didn't go exactly as planned.

I learned the hard way that queens are incredibly precious and fragile. What started as a simple attempt to mark my queen almost resulted in losing her—and eventually put all three of my colonies at risk. 🥲

A queenless colony can eventually be lost if a replacement queen isn't successfully established, so I had to act quickly and do everything I could to help them recover.

👑 Why mark a queen?

A marked queen is much easier to find during inspections. The small paint mark helps distinguish her from the thousands of workers and makes it easier to keep track of the queen's age and identity.

But after this experience, I learned that marking a queen is useful, but protecting the queen is far more important.

Those rollercoaster weeks taught me so many things that gave me real experience in beekeeping—patience, hive management, queen rearing, and emergency techniques for helping struggling colonies.

And thank God, I was fortunate enough to successfully rescue all three colonies. ❤️🐝

One colony unfortunately wasn't able to recover on its own, so I eventually had to merge it with another stronger, queenright colony. But I'm grateful that many of its bees were able to continue their journey in their new home.

Those difficult weeks gave me even more reasons to appreciate beekeeping. It's definitely not an easy hobby, but every challenge teaches you something new.

Now, it's time to rebuild, grow stronger, and look forward to the next honey flow. 🍯🍯🐝❤️

10/08/2026

Dalawampu’t limang taon na ang Republic Act No. 9151, ang batas na nagpalakas sa pag-aalaga ng pukyutan sa bansa sa pamamagitan ng pananaliksik at pagpapalaganap ng teknolohiya sa pag-aalaga ng mga bubuyog, at pagsasanay at suporta sa mga beekeeper at magsasaka.

Bilang pangunahing may-akda ng batas, ikinatutuwa kong patuloy itong nakatutulong sa kabuhayan at agrikultura. Hindi lamang honey ang naibibigay ng mga pukyutan, mahalaga rin sila sa polinasyon na tumutulong upang mamunga at dumami ang ani ng ating mga pananim. Sa pagprotekta sa mga pukyutan, pinangangalagaan din natin ang kabuhayan ng mga magsasaka, ang ating pagkain, at ang kalikasan.

31/07/2026

06/06/2026

PAGASA has officially declared the start of the Southwest Monsoon, or Habagat, today, May 30, 2026. Habagat is described by PAGASA as warm, moist winds from the southwest that bring rains over the western part of the Philippines, usually from May to September.

For people, this means more cloudy days, sudden rains, strong winds, and higher humidity.

For bees, it means something deeper.

When rainy days become frequent, bees lose flight hours. Foragers cannot go out as often, nectar becomes diluted or washed away, and colonies begin to shift from expansion mode to survival mode.

This is also what we observed in the population graph we made.

As the rainy period progressed, the colony population showed a decrease. This does not always mean the colony is dying. In many cases, it means the colony is adjusting. With less predictable food outside and fewer safe flying hours, the colony becomes more conservative.

Brood rearing also slows down. Bees are less likely to rear many young when the environment cannot support the demand for food, warmth, and care. A colony will not raise brood just because space is available. It raises brood when the field condition says, “we can afford this.”

One interesting observation is the accumulation of pollen. At first glance, stored pollen may look like abundance. But during Habagat, it can also mean that pollen is coming in faster than the colony can convert it into brood. When the queen lays less, and nurse bee activity slows, pollen is stored instead of being immediately used for larval feeding.

So the graph tells a story:

Lower population.
Less brood rearing.
More pollen accumulation.
Reduced field activity.

That is not random. That is the colony reading the weather.

For beekeepers, Habagat is a reminder that management should change with the season. This is the time to protect colonies from leaks, ants, moisture buildup, strong winds, and sudden food shortage. It is also the time to observe more and disturb less.

The bees are not lazy during the rainy season.

They are calculating.

And sometimes, the best management is to understand when the colony is no longer trying to grow, but trying to survive the season.

Habagat has arrived.
Check the roof. Check the stand. Check the entrance. And most of all, check the rhythm of the bees.

18/04/2026

Find the Queen. Comment if you found her 👑🐝

12/04/2026

Narra trees are now in full bloom in our city. I hope many bees can harvest it right away before it disappears, dahil tumatagal lang po ito ng isa hanggang tatlong araw. Happy Bees! 🐝❤️

07/04/2026

Did you know?

Based on studies, Bee venom may help reduce inflammation, muscle pain and is being studied for brain, immune, and antimicrobial effects.

Just flexing my wedding ring. 🤪

27/03/2026

Fortunately, my bees don't want to leave me yet. ❤️

Swarming is the natural biology of bees to propagate, and usually half of their original population swarms and immediately leave the hive and look for another place to live. But instead, they chose to stay and go in the ventilation cover the next day since I was not able to transfer them the day before. Get the Queen and workers will follow. It's time to add a new colony 🐝 Thank you Lord God.