Country Blossoms Honey

06/15/2026

Marina Marchese is America's first honey sommelier – an expert trai...

06/14/2026

This use of honey for medical purposes is unusual to us, but apparently common in other countries. Some U.S. hospitals and medical pros have used honey topically to reduce inflammation and infection for years, but I've never seen it used internally as shown in this video. The good part starts at about the 4-minute mark:

Please do consider contributing to the treatment of this snake so w...

06/14/2026

Right on time this year: our first extraction of 2026 new crop honey - the typical spring flavor and smelly aroma. The spring wasn't spectacular because of the cold weather in May, but it was much better than the same period in 2025.

06/12/2026

We were headed out to make a split and install a queen just as our colony was swarming. The swarm landed in a nearby walnut tree about 10 feet (3.3 meters) off the ground. It had a new double-deep home in less than 30 minutes: one frame of open brood from the parent colony along with 19 more frames of mixed drawn comb and undrawn foundation (swarms draw comb fast if you need new comb made). A five-gallon bucket on a snow rake pole is our go-to swarm catcher; we can reach quite high with additional extensions.

06/11/2026

This is a nice color chart but darker does not always result is a stronger flavor/aroma with honey.

05/28/2026

Another big step for the Vermont Farm Show Foundation: https://www.morningagclips.com/another-major-milestone-for-the-vermont-farm-show/

The next Vermont Farm Show will be on April 16 & 17, 2027. If you want a vendor or exhibitor space, you can apply on their website now: https://www.vtfarmshow.com/

The annual Vermont Farm Show website

05/07/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1ATqpjDUPk/

Healthy Land Supports Healthy Honey

Vermont’s glacial soils are mineral-rich and well drained, helping plants produce strong nectar sources for bees.

Why Vermont Honey Is Beneficial…

The connection is simple: soil feeds plants, plants feed bees, and bees create honey.

Learn how land shapes Vermont honey → VermontHoney.org

05/03/2026

Interesting.

Yesterday I posted about the different types of Queen Cells and their locations... which prompted a question about why are Swarm Cells usually found on the bottom of a frame. So I did some research to find the answer... "Footprint pheromone".

TARSAL GLANDS on each of the Queen's feet produce what’s commonly called the Footprint Pheromone which is an oily secretion deposited as she walks across the comb. This pheromone signals the queen's presence and also inhibits queen cup construction. When a hive is crowded the queen doesn’t walk on the bottom edges of the frames, and without the pheromone marking her presence, this is where workers choose to build swarm cells. As she ages and the pheromone weakens, we will begin to see queen cups in more locations across the comb.

BTW - The secretion of WORKER's tarsal glands has a different purpose by marking the hive entrance and nectar and pollen sources. It is deposited on the hive entrance by returning foragers and on visited flowers, adding to the attractiveness of the Nasonov pheromone. The footprint pheromone is only active over short distances.

Journal of Insect Physiology - Volume 27, Issue 5, 1981
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0022191081900779

05/02/2026

With the condensing winter prep method, we found that the bees more frequently chewed some of the polystyrene top insulation boards, making some new top exit points for themselves. We don't want those top exit points/ventilation holes with condensing hives.

Shiny duct tape will keep that from happening again. They won't chew duct tape.

04/30/2026

We're assembling boxes for our May nucleus colony sales. Our nucleus colonies (nucs as we call them) are 5-frame fully functional colonies with mated laying queens and foraging bees ready to install in a beekeeper's hive.

These boxes will be prepared with a mated queen, two frames of brood (developing bees - eggs, larvae, and pupae), a frame of food, a frame of empty comb, and lots of worker bees.

We use the better quality EZ Nuc boxes made from Coroplast - a material like cardboard but made from plastic. The material is very stiff, waterproof, and durable.