This weekend we had a brief respite from winter, and the ladies took advantage of it! I spent some time observing the comings and goings at the hive entrance. Looked pretty busy, and a lot of pollen was being brought in. Some bright orange/yellow, as well as some pale almost cream colored pollen. I’m thinking some might be the beginning of the red maple pollen (see our previous post about the importance of the maples as an early spring pollen
Remember way back in this early post where I described a bit about what types of plants bees are attracted to in different seasons? Well, during “bee school” last year (an excellent course put on by the Orange County Beekeepers Association), one of the instructors talked about the red maple as being one of the earliest blooming trees in the area, and at the time I was pleased to note that there is a huge red maple in our front yard, and a lot more throughout the neighborhood. Here it is this year in
I opened my email yesterday afternoon to this: To say I’m excited would be an understatement! As my co-workers can confirm, I’ve been talking about bees, bees, and more bees. It’s interesting how I’m now noticing very detailed things about this spring season’s arrival. Knowing that I’m soon going to have bees who need to have trees and flowers to forage from has made me even more attuned to what tree buds have recently popped and even the sight of
Until our bees actually arrive (April 19th, weather permitting!), I’ve been busy getting the equipment ready, preparing the hive site in the back yard, and reading up on everything I can get my hands on. Last week I attended my final class of the Orange County Beekeepers Association “Bee School”. It was a fantastic 10 week course, with a ton of information to absorb. One of the most interesting classes for me, was all about which plant species in central North Carolina are important for bees.