Starting 2016 Plans and A Recipe to Share
Hello, again! We're back to planning for the beekeeping year ahead. Since none of our bees made it through winter, we will be buying new bees and starting each hive brand new this year. There is not a lot of news to share at this point, but we are thinking about having two hives and what is new is that we are considering trying to keep a different "stock" of honeybee. We haven't made any final decisions yet, but you might be interested in what difference a "stock" or breed of honeybee might make. Beekeepers have known that genetics make a big difference in honeybees - they can affect temperament, disease resistance, and productivity. Although there can always be "exceptions to the rule," here are some quick characteristics of some of the two types of stocks we are talking about: Italian This is the type of honeybees that we have had every year so far. When I say we have Italian honeybees, I usually hear jokes about their accent, but thes...