Days Grace Apiary

05/13/2024

09/04/2019

After multiple requests, I’m sad to say that we won’t be selling honey this year. Due to a long rainy season and splitting the hives (making more hives by dividing existing hives), the bees don’t have enough excess for me to feel good about a harvest this year. I like to leave each hive more than enough to make it through the worst possible winter we may have. So even though there are several hundred pounds of honey in my bee yard, there’s no honey for people. Looking on the bright side, at least you can know for sure that any honey I do sell each year is not stolen from bees who need it. I suppose you could say we are vegan-friendly beekeepers.
😉💛🐝

06/06/2019

So, my 6 year old and my mom learned the age old method of tanging today. We waited too long to make splits and almost lost a swarm that was gathering at the top of a tree; but with two pots and two spoons and taking shifts we were able to get them back into their hive. Then we made three splits with two queen cells each. One hive became four.

04/07/2019

This winter we did an experiment and made a variation of the Slovenian AZ hive out of our unused barn. The bees survived and emerged very strong this spring. They still have plenty of their own honey and are really bringing in the pollen today. I believe that the added protection of the barn decreased their winter losses as well as the use of their honey stores. They simply didn’t need as much to give them the energy to keep themselves warm. We will be converting the rest of the barn to house all of our hives from now on, and putting more effort into its outward appearance also. Slovenian beekeeping suits Michigan well.

02/03/2019

Well, our bees made it through the polar vortex! The hum of the bees is strong! A number didn’t make it back from cleansing flights today and yesterday, but you can see one bee flying back in the top center of the picture. She made it safely back to her still very well populated hive.

01/25/2019

With temps next week predicted in the -30°F range, remember to bring your pets indoors. 😜

09/03/2018

Rescuing bees at 1 am from the middle of the road is always an adventure. They are all tucked in and drying off in the bee barn at Days Grace Apiary. Tomorrow (or rather later today) we will investigate to see if we can overwinter them in a nuk or if we will need to combine them with another hive. Either way, they’ll need donations of comb and honey from our stronger bees to recover from their loss. We are always thankful to be called in honey bee emergencies. Even at midnight. 😉

07/23/2018

While this lawsuit is in France, it is a good thing for beekeepers everywhere. Those of us who are completely treatment free feel strong aggravation at the idea of manmade substances making their way into our honey. We need to be able to know the safety of these substances if we can do nothing to prevent them from getting into our hives. Maybe that can be a first step to eventually keeping them out. Bees forage up to 3 miles from their hives. Please consider this before reaching for the roundup.

French beekeepers’ union is suing Monsanto after finding glyphosate in its honey A cooperative of beekeepers in Northern France filed a legal complaint against Monsanto June 7, the same day the company was acquired by the German chemical giant Bayer, after finding the company’s infamous weedkill...

06/28/2018

When one saves a swarm of bees from the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion, one absolutely must name them the Save-the-Boob-Bees! It was a privilege to do a swarm removal on the Spectrum Health campus. This was the largest swarm I’ve ever rescued. The picture in the tree is after I shook out a majority of the bees. Based on weight, I estimate 50,000-60,000 bees. 🐝 Fun side note, apparently some kids at the children’s hospital spotted me and security was called about the crazy lady trying to get stung by shaking bees out of a tree. 😂 For the record: not one sting and security was greatly amused by the whole show.

05/25/2018

Nice little swarm caught at my uncle’s house from a feral hive in a tree. I bet these will be sturdy, strong bees. Thanks, Uncle Dennis!

05/17/2018

Swarm season is upon us! Protect the pollinators.