The Buzz: Fall 2024

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Hivelights: Nine Seasons…and Counting!
Beeyard Basics: Planning Ahead
Tips and tools: Create a 2025 calendar
Buzzworthy: Holiday Gift Ideas
West Broadway Farmers Market
Bees, Bees, Bees: Waitlist Now Open!
Join our 2025 Intern Program
Book Your Presentations Today (with live bees)
Sweet Beesus: Recipes Dripping with Goodness

Hivelights: Nine Seasons…and Counting!

The 2024 season marks my ninth year with the bees! I feel proud of my determination, hard work and accomplishments over the years!

My confidence in managing my colonies has grown immensely.  It felt great to share this knowledge with the lovely women who took part in my intern program. The help they provided in return for their learning was much-needed, but the best part was building these great friendships with amazing people.

I put what I’ve learned from my Cornell Master Beekeeping Program to good use by presenting, Quacking, Piping and Tooting to the Red River Apiarists Association and on Instagram live. I was so nervous, but somehow pulled it off and got great feedback!

One of my biggest joys was spending the afternoon at Fred’s Honey House located in the steep hills of the Ingleside community near Mandeville, Jamaica. I loved learning about Jamaican bees, mon!

The West Broadway Farmers Market welcomed Prairie Sweetheart Honey with open arms once again. I love being part of this beautiful community while spending time with my Isabella, who basically organizes and runs the show for us!

The bee season went fairly smoothly and I somehow managed to keep up… even sold 12 strong nucs (small starter hives) in early spring. The bees outdid themselves, producing a delicious honey that tastes like none other.

I have done my best to prepare the bees for the long, cold days ahead and now it’s up to them. Play this quick video of my last oxalic dribble treatment to try and zap those pesky mites.

I have to admit that I’m more worried than ever before, as several hives went into winter much weaker than I’d like to see. At this point I just have to wait and see.

I feel inspired to continue growing my confidence and expertise and look forward to figuring out what’s next in the bee yard. It always comes back to following my passion and letting my heart (and the bees) guide my way! I love dreaming and planning so I can move towards my long-term goals, one day at a time.

Beeyard Basics: Planning Ahead

The bees are tucked in for the winter, so it’s a perfect time to plan ahead and set your goals for the 2025 bee season.

Here is a high-level overview of the main areas I focus on in my  bee yard:

• Apiary size – Taking time to decide if you want to expand or downsize is important. I approach this by thinking about how many hives I want going into the next winter and plan accordingly throughout the season with this always top of mind. 
• Equipment needs – Having the right equipment on hand makes for less scrambling as you move through the bee season. This can include frames, supers, bottom boards, nuc boxes, jars, inner covers, outer covers, hive tools and more. Trust me, it makes life easier and provides you with more options. 
• Swarm season planning – Swarming is a sign of happy, strong and healthy hives. So planning that this will likely happen makes sense. Have equipment on hand to provide the bees with enough space or do your splits. It’s wise to put some thought into what you’ll do with extra colonies.
• Queens – Inevitably you will need queens during the bee season. There are many options for this including raising your own queens, on the spot queen rearing (OTS), allowing the bees to grow enough to expand and raise a swarm queen or purchasing queens from the bee store or a local beekeeper. Deciding your general approach allows time to plan, especially if purchasing queens for early spring spilts or figuring out timing for raising your own queens.  
• Honey production goals – That’s right, you can manipulate your colonies for high or minimal honey production. Commercial beekeepers might not understand this comment, but as a hobbyist with a full-time job on the side – it’s important for my sanity because more honey equals more work. Basically if you want more honey, make sure  your colonies are at their strongest during the heavy flow. If you want less honey, splitting (and possibly selling bees) can help reduce production. Remember though —  selling your honey in bulk is also an option. 
• Pests and diseases – Taking proper notes and having records of your hive inspections along with a monitoring plan in place is key. It is important to know what is threatening your honey bees’ health by diagnosing and controlling specific problems in the hives. As beekeepers, it is important that we encourage an open and nonjudgmental attitude about problems in the bee yard, including high levels of varroa.

There are many other things to consider, but this is a good place to start. It helps to have a strong and understanding beekeeping community around you – we are all stronger when we work together, just like the bees!

Tips and Tools: Create a 2025 Beekeeping Calendar

Creating an annual beekeeping calendar is a great tool to help you organize and plan ahead for the busy bee season!

My 2025 calendar outlines yearly goals for the apiary along with a monthly summary of what the bees are up to and beekeeping jobs needed to stay on top of colony health ie. what to look for during inspections, general nutrition and pests and diseases you should be on the look out for.

It includes a monthly snapshot of weather patterns and what is typically available for the bees to forage on at that time. There are also reminders of other tasks in the bee yard along with some tips, tricks and resources to help stay on stop of things.

If you are interested in having a PDF of my 2025 beekeeping calendar, simply send an email to prairiesweethearthoney@gmail.com and I’ll pass along the link. By doing this, you will be subscribing to my upcoming emails this bee season, which will include more tips and tricks in the bee yard!

*Huge sidenote — the bees (and the weather) have their own plans and they like theirs better than yours — so although it’s great to have a plan, you must be prepared to roll with the punches and flip things on a dime.

Buzzworthy: Holiday Gift Ideas

Looking for a unique holiday gift? PS Honey has something for almost every budget. Also makes a perfect little gift for teachers or a host gift for your holiday party.

This honey is the best on the planet! What else can you expect when our bees like to forage from places like Assiniboine Forest, Assiniboine Park, Assiniboine River, the Leo Mol Gardens, Canada’s Diversity Gardens and other nearby sources. It’ll have you drooling for more.

Our craft collection features creamed and naturally flavoured honey with creamed, cinnamon creamed, ginger creamed, lemon creamed, saskatoon creamed and hot & spicy. Get it while you can!

Simply CLICK HERE to order online.

If you prefer to pay by etransfer or cash for any items, please send an email to prairiesweethearthoney@gmail.com with your order and we’ll sort out the details!

West Broadway Farmers Market (Indoors)

• Wednesday, December 4
• 3 – 5:30 pm
• 185 Young St – BNC Gymnasium (map)

Bees, Bees, Bees: 2025 Spring Nucs Available

These strong, healthy, five-frame nucs will give you a great start to the bee season. Our five-frame nucleus colonies will include a robust laying queen from the previous season, three frames of brood and bees and two frames of bees and feed.

Combing Soon: Intern Experience

Come experience the world of bees through a reciprocal exchange program this summer. This unique experience provides hands-on learning in the bee yard in exchange for work related to bees.

If you are interested in participating or learning more, please send an email to prairiesweethearthoney@gmail.com.

Book Your Honey Bee Presentations Early!

Education is my passion! I love sharing about the life cycle of the honey bee, the important role they play in our environment and the amazing ways they communicate and work together to get things done. We can learn so much from the bees.

My buzzworthy news is that my observation hive was a hit this year! It’s been amazing to be able to safely bring live bees to my presentations! Let’s see how fast you can find the queen.

Presentations are available for schools, garden clubs, senior centres, bee clubs, businesses and more. Prices vary depending on topic, audience, location and length of time.

Book now if you’re interested as there are select dates available. Simply contact  Rebecca at prairiesweethearthoney@gmail.com or 204-391-4765.

Sweet Beesus: Recipes Dripping with Goodness 

Chai Spice Cookies with Espresso Honey Icing

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 cup PS Honey
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 2/3 cup Unsalted Butter
• 1 tsp. Cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp. Ground Cardamom
• 1 tsp. Ground Ginger
• 1/2 tsp. Ground All Spice
• 1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves
• 1 Egg
• 1 Egg Yolk

Honey Espresso Icing:

• 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/4 cup PS Honey
• 2 Tbsp. Espresso

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and prep two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, all spice and cloves.
3. Using an electric cake mixer, add in the eggs, butter and BeeMaid Honey for approximately 3-4 minutes (until fully combined and fluffy in texture). Then beat in the egg yolk. While the mixer is on low speed, add in your dry ingredients until fully combined (if needed, add the dry ingredients in small batches to ensure the electric mixer does not overflow or stick).
   
4. Cover and allow the cookie dough to chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. Using a cookie scoop, divide the dough into small balls and place on the baking sheets. Gently flatten each of the balls with a spatula and bake for 15 minutes (or until the cookies are slightly golden brown in appearance).
5. Remove from oven and let cool on a baking rack for 5 minutes.
6. In a small bowl, combine the icing sugar, PS Honey and fresh espresso. Whisk with a fork until a thick glaze forms. For a thicker icing consistency, add in more icing sugar. Drizzle over each cookie and allow to set for 5 minutes before serving.
   

Source: Beemaid Honey