New Members

rhfire

Welcome to all the new members of Combconnection—Katrina, Prestin, Liz, Luke, Colbill, and Chokmah! We're glad to have you here.

Please take a moment to introduce yourselves by sharing:

Where you're located: Are you in a city, a rural area, or somewhere in between?
Your interest in bees: Are you a beekeeper, just starting out, or curious about bees and their fascinating world?

This community is a great place to connect, exchange ideas, and learn from one another. Feel free to ask questions or share your experiences—whether you're new to beekeeping or have been working with bees for years.

We’re excited to hear from you and welcome you aboard!

Preston

I’m Preston, I live in Troy. I am checking out bee keeping to see if it might work for us on our small acreage. I usually don’t see bees until well into hot weather, and have been planting pollinator friendly plants every year for 3 years. Hopefully we can get a hive or two started out here.

SweeetTaste

Preston Hi, and welcome to CombConnection. Troy has a varying landscape and my beekeeping friends outside of Troy enjoy their bees. The bees are out working throughout the spring but go to where they can find pollen or nectar that they like which is usually not around the garden or home. Moscow is similar in that manner.

You may enjoy this video on trees about planting different trees that bees will visit throughout the bee year.

YouTube Mike Conner: Bees and Trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI-i-aj34Vc

rhfire

Sound Great!

Liz

Hi I'm Liz. I live right outside of Moscow on 6 acres where I am starting a small homestead/farm. We recently moved back here after living in Albuquerque, New Mexico for 20 years. In Albuquerque we rented/leased a beehive in our suburban garden, and now that I am retired and have more time & space, I would like to start caring for & keeping my own hives. I am an experienced gardener, and wanted bees for pollination, but I quickly fell in love with them as we partnered in my garden. I am looking forward to learning how to care for my bees & all about hive management, as well as meeting others who share similar interests.

SweeetTaste

Liz Hi Liz, Moscow is much nicer than Albuquerque as you can garden with more hope of a bountiful harvest, My family and I lived in Colorado for about 12 years and don't miss the traffic or the summer hail that destroyed our crops several times. If you like tomatoes, I would recommend a sheltered environment as the spring weather plays havoc on them here.

Beekeeping in Moscow still requires the basics for taking care of them. Were you and your family able to watch the beekeepers taking care of the colonies in your garden?

Welcome and I wish you a great 2025.

rhfire

We can't wait to share insights and fascinating facts that might just blow your mind—like this one: Did you know that a single bee produces only 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in her entire life? Pretty amazing, right?

Liz

SweeetTaste The beekeepers I leased from did very little with the Albuquerque hives. It was discouraging to see the hives die every winter, even under mild conditions, with full hives of honey each time. They did not check for mites or treat for anything, which I thought was important. Each spring they would install a new nuc & I was never sure what had gone wrong. I had bees with them for 4 years. I was hoping to learn more from them than I did, which is why I am very excited to learn from the experienced beekeepers in this course. I have read everything I can about bees, but without hands on experience, it is not the same thing, I think.

Regarding tomatoes - I am a big proponent of walls of water. I can get all sorts of things - tomatoes included - in the ground a lot earlier without worry of that unpredictable spring weather. I used them in Albuquerque to protect from the hot, dry spring winds. Up here, it will be protection from the cold, wet spring nights!

SweeetTaste

Liz Death to the mites! Mites are the beekeeper's largest problem now. Checking and treating are extremely important to keep healthy bees. In the Palouse region, there is a long dearth of pollen and nectar usually starting in August and continuing till the bees cluster for winter. I feed extensively through that period to keep the bees from robbing each other and to help them raise brood in late August and September. The goal is to have multiple frames of brood at the end of September to carry the bees through to late winter when the queen starts heavy brood rearing again.

Rod posted some really good photos in the Quick Hive Check post below. Beekeeping is always interesting.

There is plenty to learn and experienced bee researchers are finding out that even they have only scratched the surface of what bees really do.