As we head into fall in Texas, there are a few things still blooming that our honey bees like. One of these is Wild Blue Sage. Frankly, it's a little surprising to see it at our ranch because it …
Bee Bearding
What you see in the photo above are bees hanging down from the front of their hive at our ranch. This is called "bearding" because it kind of looks like a beard added to the bottom of the hive's …
Honey Supers Removal
As part of preparing the ranch apiary for winter, we removed the honey supers (the third box) from each hive that had one. This will make it easier for the hives to stay warm in a smaller …
Bee Supplemental Feeding
In a perfect world, our honeybees would have all of the food and water they'd need to survive and thrive. As a practical matter, many of our planet's bees die from starvation or thirst. We …
Snow On The Prairie
Snow on the Prairie is a mixed blessing when it comes to honey bees. On the bright side, those white blooms in August signal a break from the Texas summer dearth when there are few wildflowers for the …
Sunflowers And Wildflower Dearth
There comes a point during the Texas summer (typically July), where there's a scarcity (dearth) of wildflowers for the honey bees to use as pollinators. During this period, our Hokkaido Ranch …