Tag: spring

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Tips for a Bee-friendly garden!

 

Spring has sprung! Now that bees will soon be getting to work in their hives, you can put in some extra work for them too! Many beekeepers are natural garden tenders. But you can support our buzzing pollinators even without a green thumb. Just purchase wildflower seeds for easy planting, or follow the suggestions below for a more in-depth look at your garden!

  • The most important detail for maintaining a bee-friendly garden is avoiding chemicals. That means no pesticides or herbicides, which are toxic to bees and can negatively effect plants and other beneficial insects.
  • To encourage bees and other pollinators to visit your garden, you can provide bird baths, a dripping hose, sugar water, or any shallow water source.
  • We suggest planting flowers with steady blooms from spring until fall to keep your bees in the garden across seasons. Some of these include:
    • Black-eyed Susan
    • Coneflower
    • Shasta daisy
    • English lavender
    • Threadleaf coreopsis
    • Catmint
  • Reducing weeding will also provide a very important food source for your bees, which includes dandelions, clovers, and milkweed. These are not only tasty for honeybees, but they protect your soil and benefit the microorganisms that live there. Like they always say, “bountiful life below means plentiful life above.”
  • If you’d like to focus on seasonal specific planting, these are some of your best options that are favored by bees:
    • Spring season (April-late May): bluebell, pussy willow, dandelion viburnum, dicentra, crocus, lungwort
    • Early summer (early June through late July): poppy, campanula, globe thistle, comfrey, allium, thyme, borage, hollyhock, sweet pea
    • Late summer (late July through early September): honeysuckle, Echinacea, sedum, buddleia, cornflower, foxglove, nasturtium, ivy
  • Flowers are not the only beneficial plant to keep in your garden. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs can also be pollinated by bees, which in turn will increase your chances for an excellent harvest. Flowering produce include:
    • Pumpkin
    • Broccoli
    • Squash
    • Cucumber
    • Tomato
    • Watermelon
    • Strawberries
    • Blueberries
    • Basil
    • Sage
    • Thyme
  • Lastly, shrubs and trees can also be grown to help your bees. Consider including black cherry and red maple trees, as well as elderberry, blackhaw, and buttonbushes in your garden for diversity in your greenery.

According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, as of 2020 there are more than 70 species of pollinators currently listed as endangered or threatened. Providing flowers and vegetation for the bees in your hive as well as local wild pollinators will benefit not only your garden but also nature at large!

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April in the Hive

 

Good friend of the Great Lakes Bee Company Larry Hasselman once told us “the hardest part of beekeeping is lighting the smoker!” Beekeeping novices and veterans alike may find themselves needing to refamiliarize themselves with their beekeeping equipment as spring rolls around.

Let’s walk through the basic and most essential equipment to help you get started!

Hive Tool

  • Hive tools are an essential and versatile piece in your beekeeping toolkit. When bees glue everything in the hive together, the hive tool allows you to detach the combs from the sides of the hive, cut and scrape propolis, and even remove nails or take apart boxes.

Smokers and fuel

  • Bees are naturally aggressive creatures, which is why beekeepers use smokers to make their bees docile. Smokers mask the pheromones let out by guard bees, which minimizes the defensive reaction from the colony, allowing for effective and safe hive inspections.

Queen clip

  • Queen clips are used to pick up or hold a queen bee. The clip acts as a cage that contains the queen, but the bars still permit worker bees to pass through and attend to the queen’s needs. The clip helps protect the queen during any work that needs to be done inside the hive.

Feeders

  • Feeders are convenient for feeding bees and checking on your sugar syrup levels without needing to open your beehive. Typical entrance feeders have a jar filled with syrup that drips onto a tray, which is inserted to the front of the hive.

Protective gear

  • The most important equipment in your arsenal will be your protective gear. Veils and gloves protect your head and face from any arrant aggressive bees, and prevent stings.

All of this equipment and more is available in our online store!

AND … If you’re looking to purchase bees, we still have 5 Frame Nucs and Mated Queens available for purchase online!

Our 2025 Spring Bee Pick-Ups dates are:

  • Packages & Queens: Tentatively scheduled for Saturday, April 19
  • Nucs: Confirmed for Saturday, May 10
  • Location: Great Lakes Bee Company, 5973 S. Warner Avenue, Fremont, MI 49412
  • More info: https://bit.ly/2025_GLBC_BeePickups
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Paint and show off your hives!

 

Now that the weather in West Michigan is slowly but surely getting warmer and sunnier, you may be eager to get out of your house and into your hives! Though it’s not quite time to get bees into their boxes yet, you should still be preparing your equipment and hives for when that day comes.

Painting your boxes can be a fun and beneficial project this time of year. Many people have found that painting their hives helps them weather the elements and may make the hives last longer. Some even use paint as a way to camouflage their colonies in the environment. However, you must take care during certain parts of the process so you don’t damage the hives or endanger your bees.

Start by coating the exterior of the hive in primer. Oil-based exterior primer works best for weather protection, but any house primer should get the job done. Primer is important to seal and protect the wood, and will help final coats of paint adhere to the surface better. Make sure you’re only painting the outside pieces of the hives, and allow ample time for the primer to dry before you move onto the final painting process.

It’s also important to consider what type of paint you’re using. In general, look for water-based paints that are rated for their exterior use, or eco stains. You can find information on volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, which are chemicals that evaporate out of the paint as it dries. To prevent chemicals from affecting your bees and their pheromones, look for paints with VOCs under 100. We recommend ECOS paints, which are zero-VOC with good coverage, adhesion, and mildew resistance.

Now it’s time to paint! Unless you’re opting to camouflage your boxes, feel free to get creative. One thing to consider when choosing colors is that darker paints may cause the hive to get too hot in the summer sun. However, this may be to your benefit if you live in a cooler area. Lighter, reflective colors will be beneficial for those in warmer climates as they tend to keep the hives cool. Depending on the design, you may be able to get a good mix of both. This may be a good opportunity for you to get together with your community of local bee keepers! Work on building new hives or preparing your old ones by hosting a painting party. This can also be a great activity for children, who may come up with their own unique designs.

Have you painted your hive boxes before, or are planning a painting party? Send photos to our Facebook, or tag us in your posts! We’d love to feature your work on our social pages.

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March in the Hive

 

It’s time to think spring! March is all about getting your apiary ready. Depending on the climate in your area, you can perform regular checks on the hives. On the warmest days, you can clean out your hives and inspect the status of the bees; check out January and February in the hive for last minute tips. There is still a chance that your bees are alive, but may not make it much longer if the temperatures continue to fluctuate. Don’t be discouraged if your bees didn’t overwinter! Michigan winters can be unpredictable. Instead, look forward to the new season, and decide what you’d like to change or do differently.

This is a great time to restock your supplies, or look into upgraded equipment. Before your supplies run out, order early to ensure you get them in time. You can also check out our options for bee packages. They will be available at GLBC in early to mid-April, with nucs coming early in May. If you’re wondering what kind of bees to get this year, check out our “No Bad Bees” blog, where we discuss the options available in our store and their pros and cons.

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How Pollination Works

 
 
Like all living things, plants want to reproduce. Reproduction happens when a male fertilizes a female. Plants reproduce similarly by making seeds after being fertilized. In order for plants to make seeds, plants must first be pollinated. Pollination is the process by which the male part of a plant fertilizes the female part of another plant (of the same species). The male part of a plant produces pollen, which then must travel to the female part of another plant in order to fertilize it. Plants can’t pick up their feet and walk like other living animals. The male part of the plant relies on external forces to transfer the pollen to other plants, like bees.

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