The Pickled Prepper
honey jars filled after our recent harvest.

The Honey Harvest is In

The honey harvest is behind us. It was fun but sticky work and yielded 200 pounds of two different colors of honey.
This homemade feeder is designed to allow bees to open feed on pollen substitute without letting it get rained on or blown away by heavy wind.

Making a Bee Resupply Run Across the State

It's getting close to honey harvest time, and time to help our bee colonies get prepared for the long, cold winter.
Lots of bees

Lots of Bees, Not Much Honey

I have plenty of bees, but little honey. We are all waiting for something to bloom besides wildflowers and clover so the honey flow can start.
A bee smoker

A Tough Year so far for Bees and Honey

The honey season is off to a slow start thanks to a cool and wet spring, but things are beginning to look up on the homestead.
This frame pulled from my beehive shows brood in multiple stages. If you look carefully, you can see the eggs.

Working on my Farmer Tan and Splitting Bees

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.
A frame of bees with pollen and honey

Testing for Mites to Raise Healthy Fat Winter Bees

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

The Exciting Part of Bee Season Comes to an End

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.
Pet's bee yard

A Busy Day in the Bee Yard

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.
Two boxes of Zatarains rice

We Find Time to Prep as Food Shortage Looms

Walmart continues to be well stocked and while prices are up, there are still good buys to be found for preppers
Five bee hives in a rpw

I Double the Size of my Bee Yard Overnight

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