I’ve raised chickens since 1993 and in those 24 years I’ve encountered many-a broody chicken. But never have I ever heard of a broody bee…until now. I’ve been fascinated with bumblebees lately. I’ve always found them adorable —like little yellow Teddy Bears buzzing around the garden. But recently I’ve been doing some research to learn […]

It’s the end of November in Michigan, we’ve already had several snow falls, the temperature today is 29 degrees outside, and I just killed a mosquito in our bathroom. It always amazes me how resilient insects are. In the winter, I often look across our field covered in white drifts of snow, sometimes several feet […]

In my opinion, there is nothing more olde-kitchen, Americana, hearth and home than a pie. Some of my favorite pies are what I like to call “Humble Pies”. And not in the sense of the proverbial gesture to be more unpretentious. But more in the sense of humble ingredients. Things you have on hand, in […]

We’re starting to experience temperatures in the 30’s here in Michigan. The trees in our yard are bare of their leaves and it’s starting to look like winter. The sky has that long shadowy dreariness where even at the sun’s peak there’s still a hint of dusk.   In the winter, moisture is the bee […]

Winter is coming…   We live in Michigan and the Farmer’s Almanac says we’re in for a doozy…The signs are all there. I have a few “superstition”/“wives tale” type clues that I swear by.   The oaks are LOADED with acorns this year. We had a cool summer following a mild winter (so we’re due) […]

We all know that bees can sting. Perhaps, after making honey and pollination, stinging might be what bees are most known for. It may seem obvious that bees protect themselves by using their stinger, but in reality, the sting is a bee’s last resort.   When a bee stings, it kills the bee. The stinger […]

As I write this our golden retriever is barking at a car turning around in the driveway. He’s letting me know that someone is here. I tell him “Good boy,… okay, that’s enough.” and pat his head. Still flustered and huffy, he obeys begrudgingly. He quiets down and lays in his bed, ears pricked and […]

I’ve written other posts that talk about plants you should add to your yard to attract and support bees, but never have I seen anything like this! We planted a sunflower field on our land this spring and opened a U-Pick section of our farm where people can come and cut a bouquet, visit with […]

I love the fact that bee keeping supplies are becoming mainstream in most local feed stores. When we first started beekeeping we’d either have to trek a 2 hour trip to the nearest hive supply company or order things online with often hefty shipping costs.   We pretty much have everything we need for our […]

Honeybees, in a sense, reproduce on two levels. There is the actual reproduction of single bees; the mating of the queen, egg laying and rearing of young. This is one kind of reproduction. But there is also the reproduction of the hive itself. Without swarming, the first beehive in the history of time would still […]

To a new beekeeper differentiating a drone from the queen can be a little confusing. I remember the first time we did a hive inspection with our first colony. It was after we not-so-gracefully dumped our package bees in the new, empty hive and sealed it up for two weeks hoping we did everything right. […]

Story and photos by Jennifer Sartell An adult bee’s diet is primarily made up of three types of food. Honey, Nectar and Pollen. In this post, we will discover how each of these food groups provide essential nutrient to a bee. Nectar Where does nectar come from? Nectar actually begins in the leaves of plants. […]

It might be a weird subject to read about, (it was even weirder to research) but the reproductive practice of the honey bee is a fascinating thing!   All bees begin life as an egg. Fertilized eggs will grow to be female bees and unfertilized eggs will become drones (male bees). The queen has control […]

A honey bee is approximately a half of an inch long. Though tiny, it is made up of many complicated and interesting parts. The honey bee is one of the most streamline designs of any creature. Each part is tailored to a specific purpose, and does that purpose well.     The body of a […]

When you open your hive and look at the busy moving mass of tiny golden bodies, it is but a mere snapshot of the working hive. The bee colony is constantly regenerating itself. In fact, every 6 weeks or so you essentially have a new hive. Any bees that were born two months ago have […]