Roca Ridge Farm

07/08/2026

07/08/2026

🐝 Mother Nature Had
Other Plans Today 🐝

Today’s goal was simple: a quick check of food stores and some hive balancing. We planned to move a few drawn-out frames from our strongest colonies into our weaker ones to help them catch up.

For those new to beekeeping, a “drawn-out frame” means the bees have already built the wax comb, making it ready for brood (baby bees), pollen storage, or nectar.

Well... Mother Nature had a different plan.

When we opened our two strongest hives, we discovered that the bees hadn’t just finished drawing out the comb—they had already filled their new frames with nectar and capped it as honey! 🍯

That’s incredible news, but it also means our original plan went out the window. Instead of moving frames, we be added additional boxes to give these hardworking colonies more room to grow.

Days like today are a great reminder that beekeeping is less about telling bees what to do and more about listening to what they’re telling us. Nature always seems to have a plan, and it’s often better than ours.

While we wait for a full inspection next week, enjoy this video showing some of our foragers returning home with beautiful reddish-orange and cream-colored pollen packed into their pollen baskets. Every color tells a story about the flowers they’re visiting and the resources they’re bringing back to the hive.

Thank you for following along on our journey. We love sharing these moments with you, and as always, we’re happy to answer any questions you have about bees, beekeeping, or life in the apiary.

06/30/2026

🐝 What an amazing day in the apiary! 🐝

For once, the weather cooperated and we were able to complete a full inspection of all four hives without fighting wind. Even better, we located all four queens today! 👑

The biggest highlight was seeing our struggling hive finally turn the corner. We observed plenty of healthy bees, eggs, and larvae, all signs of a growing and productive colony. In just five days, they consumed an entire gallon of syrup and nearly half of a fresh pollen patty—both strong indicators that the colony is building population and preparing for the future.

Our other three hives continue to impress. They’re bringing in nectar at an incredible pace, and one colony will almost certainly receive another honey super next week. The frames shown in these photos were completely empty just one week ago. Today, they’re packed with nectar and honey, with some frames weighing close to 10 pounds each!

It’s amazing to watch what thousands of bees can accomplish in such a short amount of time. Every inspection reminds us just how hard these little pollinators work.

As always, thank you for following along on our journey here at Roca Ridge Farm. We appreciate the support and love sharing the highs, lows, and lessons of beekeeping with all of you.

Have questions about bees, honey, or what you’re seeing in the photos? Drop them in the comments—we’re always happy to talk bees! 🍯🐝

06/24/2026

🐝 Hive Inspection Update from Roca Ridge Farm 🐝

The wind finally cooperated today, which meant we were able to complete a full hive inspection and mite test. The results gave us some good news, some great news, some questionable news, and some downright weird-but-awesome news.

🍯 First, the GREAT news...

We have honey!

Two of our four hives are absolutely packing away nectar right now. We added honey supers just five days ago, and they're already getting HEAVY. There is definitely a strong nectar flow happening around the farm.

What's even more surprising is that the bees are already capping some of that honey. Honey bees generally won't cap honey until the moisture content drops to around 18%, which means they've successfully dehydrated and preserved it for long-term storage. That process can sometimes take a while, but apparently not with whatever they're bringing home right now!

Because of the honey production, we've stopped feeding syrup to those colonies. Once bees begin storing honey, we don't want supplemental feed ending up in the honey supers.

🐝 The GOOD news...

Our problem hive came back with a zero mite count on today's test.

Now, a zero count doesn't necessarily mean every mite is gone, but it does tell us that the mite load has been significantly reduced. That's a huge improvement from where we were and a positive sign that our treatment efforts worked.
We are hoping this helps the colony build strength, although we're not convinced mites were the only issue. During today's inspection, we noticed fresh queen cups, which could indicate the colony is preparing to supersede their queen and raise a replacement due to her performance.

Regardless, we're thrilled with today's mite results.

🤔 The QUESTIONABLE news...

Two of our hives that previously tested at zero mites both came back at about a 2% mite load.
For beekeepers, that's still considered an acceptable level, but we'd obviously prefer to see that number stay at zero. Apparently we made the first hive so uncomfortable that the mites packed their bags and moved into the neighboring rooms!

🧬 Now for the WEIRD but AWESOME news...

The photo you're seeing is a honey bee with white eyes.
No, that's not pollen or debris on its face. White eyes are a rare genetic mutation in honey bees that affects eye pigmentation. Similar mutations have been studied for decades and are inherited traits that can occasionally appear in otherwise healthy colonies. The bee sees differently than a normal honey bee, but finding one in the wild is uncommon and incredibly cool to witness.

It's not something most beekeepers ever notice, so we were pretty excited to spot it during today's inspection not only once, but twice.

❄️ Overall, the bees are definitely shifting into winter-preparation mode, and we're happy with most of the progress we're seeing across the apiary.

Thank you all for following along on this journey with us. We love sharing these moments, and if you have any questions about bees, honey, or beekeeping, drop them in the comments. We'd love to chat!

06/20/2026

🐝 Big milestone day at Roca Ridge Farm! 🍯

Today we added our very first honey supers!

A honey super is the box placed above the brood area where bees store surplus honey. Once the bees fill the frames with nectar and ripen it into honey, this is where the harvest comes from. Adding supers gives the colony more room to work, helps prevent overcrowding, and supports continued growth during the busy nectar flow.

Unfortunately, the wind kept us from performing a full hive inspection today, but the amount of activity at the entrances told us everything we needed to know—it was time to give our girls some more space.

Luke, Leo, and Charly each received their first honey super, while Sophie received her second brood box. She’s still a little behind the others, but she’s continuing to make progress and we’re excited to see how she develops over the coming weeks.

For first-year beekeepers, this is a huge step and an exciting sign that our colonies are thriving. Thank you to everyone who has followed along on this journey, supported our small farm, and shared in the excitement with us. We can’t wait to see what the rest of the season brings!

06/17/2026

Don't do it, it's a trap.

06/11/2026

🐝 Could we actually get honey in our first year? 🍯

Today’s hive inspection brought some exciting news!

Leo, Luke, and Charly are absolutely booming. Three weeks after adding their second brood boxes, every frame was packed with activity. We found lots of fresh eggs and capped brood, and we’re getting very close to adding our first honey supers.

Most beekeepers will tell you not to expect a honey harvest in a colony’s first year... but these girls might not have gotten that memo. 👀🍯

Sophie continues to be our hive to watch. Last week we donated a frame of eggs, larvae, and capped brood to help boost her struggling population. The difference was noticeable today, with significantly more bees present than during our last inspection.

The hive still has a queen cell, but it hasn’t been charged and no new queen cells have been started. The colony appears to be considering replacing their queen but hasn’t made up its mind yet. With winter preparation already on the horizon, we’ll likely need to make a final decision soon. Next week’s inspection should tell us a lot.

Meanwhile, the bees continue their sugar addiction. 🤣

Every drop of syrup we provided a few days ago was gone, so today we added another 4.5 gallons. At this rate, we’re starting to think a sugar cane field might be our next farm project.

Nature also reminded us who’s really in charge. We witnessed a jumping spider enjoying a bee-sized lunch during the inspection. 🕷️

On a happier note, we found wild roses blooming on the property. Every new flower means more forage for our bees and other pollinators.
Some hives are thriving. Some are struggling. All of them are teaching us something.
🐝❤️

06/05/2026

🐝 Roca Ridge Hive Update 🐝
While we didn’t perform a full hive inspection today, we did continue Sophie’s treatment for Varroa mites and checked on syrup consumption across all four colonies.

The bees continue to impress us! In just 3 days, our hives consumed 4.5 gallons of syrup. For those keeping track, that’s nearly 9 gallons in a single week.

Our feeding mixture consists of a 1:1 sugar-water syrup enhanced with a pollen supplement, an essential oil feeding stimulant, and a liquid protein additive. These supplements help provide nutritional support during periods when natural forage may be limited, encourage healthy brood rearing, and help colonies build strength as they continue to grow.

Feeding syrup also helps stimulate the bees’ wax glands, which is especially important for newer colonies that are working hard to draw fresh comb on new frames. Building comb requires a tremendous amount of energy, and the syrup helps fuel that effort.

Although we didn’t open the hives today, there was plenty of activity at each entrance. Foragers were coming and going steadily, guard bees were on patrol, and the colonies appeared busy and productive. All of these exterior signs point to healthy, thriving hives.

Our next full inspection is planned for early next week, weather permitting. We’re excited to see what’s happening inside and are hopeful we’ll have even more positive news to share.

Thank you for following along on our beekeeping journey! We are off to Sam’s club to buy a pallet of sugar since our bees seem a little overly addicted to it right now.

🍯🐝

06/03/2026

🐝 Hive Inspection Update! 🐝

We completed a full inspection of all four hives today, and overall things are looking great!
Our bees continue to impress us, consuming another 4 gallons of syrup in just 5 days. The three colonies that received a second deep brood box last week are absolutely thriving. Not only have they drawn out the new frames with beautiful fresh comb, but all three queens have already moved up into the new boxes and begun laying eggs. That’s exactly what we were hoping to see!

Our fourth hive, Sophie, is still facing some challenges. While the queen is laying eggs, the colony isn’t growing the way we’d like. During today’s inspection we found a fresh queen cup, which could indicate the bees recognize their queen may not be performing at her best and are considering raising a replacement. The queen cup was not charged with royal jelly or an egg so they may be just getting ready if things don’t change. A queen cup (see our photo) is a noticeably larger cell that bees can use to raise a new queen.

To give Sophie a boost, we transferred a frame full of nurse bees, eggs, and larvae from Luke’s hive into her colony. We’re hoping the additional population and resources will help jump-start growth.

We know Sophie has been dealing with an elevated mite load and is currently being treated, but there may also be a queen-related issue contributing to her struggles. We’ll continue monitoring her closely, stay on top of mite treatments, and see how she responds to the extra frame of bees.

Beekeeping is always a lesson in patience and observation. Every hive has its own story, and we’re hopeful Sophie will turn things around in the coming weeks. 🍯🐝