The Pickled PrepperNews. Views and Advice

A long day spent int he bee yard getting stung and splitting hives, but we're nor done yet as we expand to seven hives.

The bees look strong heading into the fall, but our mite check turned up some Varroa mites in one of our larger hives.

Bee season has peaked and the brood nests will get smaller and smaller. What you do now will determine if your bees make it through winter.

Monday's beehive inspection revealed some surprises, both good and bad. We've got supers on two hives and are making honey for our spring harvest.

Walmart continues to be well stocked and while prices are up, there are still good buys to be found for preppers

I started the year with two beehives that successfully overwintered. After splitting the hives, I now have five with a six on the way.

Finding and marking recently mated queens is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack, but we managed.

If a beehive swarms, the bees may be gone for good. It's a good idea to inspect your hives and take steps when you see signs of a swarm.

With my beekeeping reputation on the line, I was hoping for at least two of my three hives to make it through the winter.

We got warm weather, but there was no sun, just rain and more rain. As soon as it clears up and warms up, we're going to kill some varroa mites.

You could consider bees preppers. They stock up nectar (carbs) and pollen (protein) to help carry them through the long. cold winter.

We are working to make fall plantings, clean up the homestead, stock up, and generally make sure we are ready for winter.

We face our second hurricane in two weeks, prepare for cooler temperatures and ready our bees to get through the winter.

It's finally time to harvest some honey and see how our bees performed this year.

I didn't expect to harvest any honey this year, our first with the hives, but just 60 days later, we pulled our first frame of honey from one of the hives.

We opened up three hives and took a total of 62 photos to test in the BeeScanning app as a tool to measure a varroa mite infestation.

Only four weeks after we added bees to our hives, they have doubled in size, the bees are drawing comb, and the queen is laying lots of eggs.

We got off to a slow start back in mid-March and the weather wasn't the most cooperative, but we've finally finished building the chicken coop.

We may have small stock, but its keeping us busy! From feeding the bees to cleaning chicks with pasty butt, it's all part of a day in the life of a homseteader.

They say that when it rains it pours. That was the case today when all the livestock we had ordered months ago showed up on the same day.

After a clandestine meeting in which I slipped a woman a wad of $20s and she handed me a small, carefully built wooden box, I was the proud owner of some bees.

Work continues between the rain drops as the chicken coop and beehives await their new occupa

When Charlie Sheen famously said "Winning!" it came back to bite him, but we're still declaring victory over COVID-19. For now, at least.

The weather interferes with our plans, but work progresses on the homestead as we continue to ready for our chicks and bees to be delivered.

The weather turned warm and sunny, allowing us to continue to work on our bee projects and our chicken coop. We are now ready if the bees come early. The coop needs more work.

With cold weather bringing a halt to work on the chicken coop, I worked in the shop assembling bee hives until it was finally warm enough to paint them.

We put some miles on the truck and some wind in our hair as we cruised the back roads in search of beekeeping equipment.