Holden Beach Bees

Holden Beach Bees Boutique apiary producing hyper-local Holden Beach Honey and other hive products.

We installed foam boards for insulation, reduced the size and number of openings, and gave them "candy boards" full of f...
01/23/2025

We installed foam boards for insulation, reduced the size and number of openings, and gave them "candy boards" full of food (sugar and nutrients). We hope they are keeping themselves warm.

Covered our hives to protect them from the aerial mosquitoe spraying tonight. Fingers crossed.
10/11/2024

Covered our hives to protect them from the aerial mosquitoe spraying tonight. Fingers crossed.

We are wrapping up our first honey harvest of the year. Our early spring honey is thick with a light color and a distin...
05/14/2024

We are wrapping up our first honey harvest of the year. Our early spring honey is thick with a light color and a distinct floral flavor. To produce this honey the bees were foraging on Pittosporum and other local spring flowering beach plants.

It's the time of year when we treat our bees for Varroa mites. We use a crucible full of Oxalic acid, stick it in the h...
02/18/2024

It's the time of year when we treat our bees for Varroa mites. We use a crucible full of Oxalic acid, stick it in the hive, seal the hive, and connect it to a car battery. The Oxalic acid turns to v***r and coats the bees, killing the mites. We apply a series of treatments several days apart to coat new bees who have recently emerged from their cells. The goal is to control the mite count over the winter.

The sugars in 100% natural honey sometimes crystallize. It all depends on which flowers the bees were visiting. If thi...
04/16/2023

The sugars in 100% natural honey sometimes crystallize. It all depends on which flowers the bees were visiting. If this happens to your honey, just place the jar in warm water (90 to 100 degrees, not boiling) and the sugar will dissolve back into the liquid honey. The honey is perfectly fine and safe to eat. It is not bad, and some people prefer it that way. Crystallization doesn’t happen with commercially produced honey that is processed and pasteurized, but our honey comes directly from the hive with only minimal filtering - no processing, heating, or additives. The local pollen and enzymes naturally found in honey are still there – which is why it tastes so good!

04/04/2023

Spring is when new bee colonies are formed by splitting off from existing hives. This is how honeybees reproduce. The queen bee leaves with around half of the bees in the hive. The remaining bees stay in the hive, create a new queen, and build back their ranks. The departing swarm finds a temporary gathering place, called a bivouac, while their scout bees search for a new home. The swarm is typically very docile since the bees are not defending their home or any honey. If you see a swarm like the one in the video, don’t spray or call an exterminator. Instead, please contact your county’s beekeeping club so they can relocate it to a hive before it moves on to a new location. Most bee clubs have a page. If you can’t find one, then please contact your County Extension Office.

03/07/2023

Our bees are preparing for Spring by ramping up their numbers. When new bees first leave the hive, they do back-and-forth “orientation flights” to get their bearings before heading out in search of pollen and nectar.

We are excited to be a NCSBA Certified Honey Producer! This certification verifies our honey is a genuine product of th...
02/15/2023

We are excited to be a NCSBA Certified Honey Producer! This certification verifies our honey is a genuine product of the State and complies with labeling and classification guidelines.

Ours bees made it through the cold spell OK. We gave them candy boards today to make sure they have plenty of food for t...
12/31/2022

Ours bees made it through the cold spell OK. We gave them candy boards today to make sure they have plenty of food for the winter.

After a great spring and summer, our bees are now preparing for winter. We inspected them last weekend and found a wax ...
11/02/2022

After a great spring and summer, our bees are now preparing for winter. We inspected them last weekend and found a wax sculpture they had created. We had two harvests this year - a Spring harvest in May and a Summer harvest in July. The Spring honey is a light color and flavor. The Summer honey is a beautiful golden amber with a warm flavor and the well-known honey tang. Please send us a message if you would like to buy some of our honey.

We were excited our Early Spring harvest won Second Place in the Brunswick County Beekeepers Association honey-tasting c...
05/19/2022

We were excited our Early Spring harvest won Second Place in the Brunswick County Beekeepers Association honey-tasting contest. The competition was strong, so we are very proud to now be able to say we have Award Winning honey!

Three harvests in 2021 - each with a unique color and flavor depending upon the flowers the bees were visiting.
08/07/2021

Three harvests in 2021 - each with a unique color and flavor depending upon the flowers the bees were visiting.

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Holden Beach, NC
28462

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