March Update from the Beekeepers

Hey Bee Boxers,

Some of you may know this and some of you may not, but our Sacramento-based storefront is owned and operated by a family of Fourth Generation Beekeepers. The Becker family of beekeepers own and operate over 6,000 beehives in the Sacramento Valley, in addition to our beehives on the island of Kauai, HI. Maintaining 6,000+ beehives is a full time, 6 - 7 days a week, job.

The Local Wildflower Honey that we sell in store comes exclusively from our beekeeper's hives here in Sacramento. Our Local Wildflower contains a more diverse composition of Local Pollen that other varieties produced from 1 or 2 beehives; this means that our Local Wildflower Honey has a greater chance of containing the pollens that are causes of the common allergens in the area. This in turn means that by taking the Local Honey for allergy relief, there is a greater chance that it will be beneficial to you.

During March, the beehives are still in partial dormancy and may be increasing their activity more and more to forage for local pollen and nectar to convert to honey after spending the winter inside the hive, keeping warm. The bravest bees may fly on a warmer day, ~56 - 58 degrees, whereas the majority will likely wait it out until the temperature rises and the sun comes out. The more plants that begin to blossom, the more honeybees you can expect to see out and about, pollinating and collecting nectar. Right now the queen bee is beginning to lay more and more brood, (aka baby bees), to replenish her hive and gear up for the next few months of foraging.

This month our beekeepers are getting their supplies ready to make divides, (aka more beehives from the population of the current hives), and taking a peak into the current hives to see how they faired through winter.

Signs of a strong hive coming out of winter will be:

- a hive that still has about 70% of it's population

- evidence of a queen (fresh brood)

- Beginning signs of foraging bees

Thanks for checking out our March Update from the Beekeepers! We'll be back with you next month.

- The Bee Box