Sophie Awarded - Bees Buzz Off

 Upon returning from Virginia, Sophie and I invited our beekeeping mentor over to help us be sure the hive was in good shape before the winter. Upon opening the hive and looking down into it, a hard realization hit us. We all stared at each other in shock. Our strong, prolific colony was completely gone! We searched the hive and comb for clues There was ripped open comb cells only a few dead bees in the bottom or at the entrance.

Sophie was to present on the anatomy of a honey bee and be awarded for the completion of her year long experience with beekeeping. We met as a small group and it was great for all the students to see each other, especially as some have not been in school or anything social given the pandemic.  Sophie presented her information in a well organized way but decided she would include more pictures in the future. We learned a lot from the others as well. We are so proud of Sophie for the dedication she put toward her bees and this adventure with me. It has been a great time for us to be together, hard work, and fascinating. 

We found from further discussion from our instructors that it was likely the queen died and the bees sucked up the honey and headed out as she was no longer producing pheromones to keep them there. We also learned that colony loss is quite normal and across the board colony loss is 40%. Would have like to be on the other side of normal but we are going to keep at beekeeping. In fact, we ordered two nucs (beginner colonies) for the spring while at the meeting.