Rain Days
When weather grounds 50,000 bees, the colony turns inward. Rain days are when the hive does its most important domestic work.
- weather
- colony-behavior
- observation
- seasonal
The Journal
Notes from the hives, fields, and seasons of Loudoun County.
Journal entries
Water Carriers
Some bees spend their entire foraging lives collecting water instead of nectar. They bring home nothing storable, and the colony cannot survive without them.
- foraging
- colony-behavior
- observation
- summer
Reading the Landing Board
Ten minutes at the hive entrance can tell you more than a twenty-minute inspection. A field guide to what the bees are broadcasting.
- observation
- behavior
- diagnostics
- field-guide
Cartography of a Forage Radius
We drew a three-mile circle around our apiary and cataloged what is inside it. The landscape looks different when you read it as a bee.
- forage
- landscape
- mapping
- ecology
- loudoun-county
Swarm Season
Swarming is not a failure. It is how honey bees have reproduced for millions of years — the highest expression of colony fitness.
- swarms
- bee-biology
- spring
- colony-management
The Color of Pollen
Each pollen load a forager carries is a specific color tied to a specific plant. Watching the landing board is like reading a botanical survey in real time.
- pollen
- forage
- observation
- botany
- seasonal
After the Last Frost
The months between November and April are the quietest and hardest in beekeeping. We write about the wait, the dread, and the first spring check.
- winter
- spring
- colony-loss
- seasonal-management
- philosophy
The First Fifteen Minutes
Most of what you need to know about a hive is available before you open it. The best diagnostic tool in beekeeping is patience.
- inspection
- observation
- hive-management
- philosophy
Feeding
When does supplemental feeding cross from stewardship into life support? The chemistry, the mechanics, the calendar — and the question we keep circling.
- feeding
- management
- philosophy
- nutrition
- seasonal-management
What We Got Wrong
Two years of beekeeping mistakes — inspecting too often, missing a queenless hive, underestimating varroa, and losing our first colony to winter.
- mistakes
- management
- varroa
- winter
- beginnings