Bearsville Bees-Parkersburg

06/23/2026

Grow it and the bees will come. First flowers on my passion fruit vine 6/22 that is early.

06/19/2026

Empty the bucket….
With the help of the Honey Bucket Stand, beekeepers can clean out a bucket of honey while filling their jars. The stand has 3 levels to tilt the bucket higher each level. Buy this at bearsvillebees.com

06/19/2026

06/17/2026

Get your HOT WAX here!!! New on the market from Bearsville Bees — a Solar Wax Melter. Just put old wax scrapings, cappings, burr comb, cut off etc. into the top pan. Cheese cloth or paper towels will filter the melting wax and that drips into the pan below. Clean pure bees wax!

06/17/2026

06/07/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1GgdHPzFpo/?mibextid=wwXIfr

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝘀𝘄𝗮𝘅 𝘀𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲... 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝘀𝘄𝗮𝘅 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗽 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄?

Most people assume bees make yellow wax.

They don't.

Fresh beeswax is actually snow white.

𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘀𝘄𝗮𝘅 𝗜𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲

When young worker bees are about 12 to 18 days old, they produce wax from specialized glands on the underside of their abdomen.

The wax starts as a liquid and quickly hardens into tiny wax flakes.

At that moment, the wax is pure.

No pollen.
No propolis.
No honey stains.
No hive debris.

Just clean, fresh beeswax.

That is why newly built comb often appears bright white during a strong nectar flow.

If you've ever opened a hive and seen brilliant white comb being built, you're looking at wax that was produced only hours or days earlier.

𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄?

Because bees live on it.

As workers walk across the comb, they track in pollen oils, plant pigments, propolis, nectar, and honey.

Over time those natural materials stain the wax.

The bright white comb gradually turns:

• Cream colored
• Yellow
• Golden
• Amber

The older the comb becomes, the darker it usually gets.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸?

Every generation of developing bees leaves behind a cocoon lining inside the cell.

After thousands of bees are raised in the same comb, those layers build up and darken the wax.

That's why brood comb often becomes dark brown or almost black while honey storage comb stays much lighter.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝘀𝘄𝗮𝘅 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘆?

Most commercial white beeswax has been filtered, charcoal treated, or bleached to remove the natural yellow pigments.

Natural yellow beeswax gets its color from the flowers, pollen, and plant resins that bees bring back to the hive.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻

Nature's original beeswax wasn't designed to be yellow.

It starts out white.

The color comes from the story it collects along the way.

Every shade of beeswax tells a little bit about where the bees have been, what they've gathered, and how that comb has been used.

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀
𝑺𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 🐝💛
𝐘’𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥

05/31/2026

One thing many newer beekeepers do not realize at first is just HOW hard honey bees work to draw out comb. 🐝

Honestly… before I became a beekeeper, I had absolutely no idea how valuable drawn comb truly is to a colony.

Producing wax takes an incredible amount of energy, nectar, resources, and young worker bees. Every little wax cell those girls build represents work. A LOT of work.

That is why drawn comb is so valuable inside a hive. When bees already have comb available, they can focus more energy on:
🐝 raising brood
🐝 storing nectar
🐝 making honey
instead of starting from scratch and rebuilding wax over and over again.

A newer beekeeper recently reached out and asked me:
“How often should I rotate out old comb?”

Honestly… I think this is one of those topics where there is not one perfect answer, and you will probably hear many different opinions depending on who you ask.

For me personally, here in Newfoundland, our conditions are quite different compared to many other places:
🐝 We currently do not have varroa
🐝 We have very little small hive beetle pressure
🐝 We generally have lower wax moth pressure
🐝 We also have very little agricultural pesticide exposure

Because of that, I personally tend to get longer use out of my brood comb compared to beekeepers in some other regions.
That said… many researchers and extension programs do recommend regularly rotating older brood comb out over time.

A very common recommendation is replacing about 20–30% of brood comb each year, which works out to roughly every 3–5 years depending on management style and local conditions.
Bee Haven 2026
Older brood comb can become extremely dark over time from:
🐝 cocoon buildup
🐝 debris
🐝 bee waste
🐝 possible pathogen buildup
🐝 and chemical accumulation in some environments

Replacing older comb may help improve brood health and overall colony condition.

But again… beekeeping is never completely black and white.
-Some beekeepers rotate comb aggressively.
-Some rotate much slower.
-Some only replace frames when the comb condition starts looking poor.

Personally, I try to balance:
🐝 colony health
🐝 comb condition
🐝 our local Newfoundland environment
🐝 and the reality that bees work INCREDIBLY hard to build comb[
At the end of the day… drawn comb is valuable. Very valuable. Those girls worked hard for it.

05/29/2026

I read this comment this morning and it honestly made me smile. 🐝
A sweet follower wrote
“Thank you for the help. I have been reading Bee Haven for a while. I know you give sound advice. I did not start with 2 hives; that had to do with finances. My wife and I have enjoyed it. We mark the calendar every 7–10 days for hive checks and she writes everything in a log book. We have our coffee sitting close enough to see and hear them.”

There are SO many beautiful things in this message.
🐝 Good bee husbandry
🐝 Quality time together as a couple
🐝 Routine and consistency with inspections
🐝 Keeping records and learning from the bees
🐝 And honestly… self-care and mental wellness

Sometimes people think beekeeping is only about honey or equipment.

It is also about
- slowing down.
-Watching.
-Learning.
-Connecting.
-Breathing.
-Spending quiet moments outside with the bees and with the people we love.
Bee Haven 2026
Sitting near the hives with a coffee, listening to the buzzing, watching the bees come and go… there is something incredibly calming about it.

You have all the ingredients for healthy, enjoyable beekeeping, my friend

Keep it going. 🐝

And as always… if you ever have questions, please feel free to reach out.