Woods Bee Co.

09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day! 🇺🇸🐝

Even though it’s a day off for some people, we’re still plugging away!

Harvesting customers’ honey, melting down wax, and doing a little cleanup are all on my to-do list today.

No rest for the beekeeper this time of year! 🍯🐝

09/07/2026

We had a couple of great questions about absconding during Coffee with a Beekeeper, so we wanted to share a little more about it.

🐝 What is absconding?

Absconding is when an entire honey bee colony leaves the hive, including the queen, because conditions have become too stressful or threatening for them to remain.

This is different from swarming. Swarming is a natural form of colony reproduction, while absconding is usually a response to stress.

Some common reasons a colony may abscond include:

• Heavy Varroa mite pressure
• Small hive beetle or wax moth problems
• Lack of food or water
• Excessive heat or poor ventilation
• Repeated disturbances to the colony
• Predator pressure
• Pesticide exposure
• Poor hive conditions or an unsuitable location
• Severe disease or other colony stress

Before leaving, the bees may begin reducing brood production and consuming or carrying away as much honey as possible. Then, instead of leaving part of the colony behind like a swarm does, nearly the entire colony may disappear.

If you suddenly find an almost empty hive with very few or no dead bees inside, don’t automatically assume the colony died. Take a close look at the comb, food stores, mite levels, pests, and other conditions. The colony may have absconded, and figuring out why can help prevent the same thing from happening again.

One of the biggest lessons in beekeeping is learning to recognize what the bees are telling us before a problem becomes serious.

🐝 Have you ever had a colony abscond? What do you think caused it?

09/07/2026

This is your sign to add Bluebeard to your fall pollinator garden! 💙🐝

Just look at how much the bees love it! As we move into fall and fewer plants are blooming, late-season flowers like Bluebeard can provide valuable forage for honey bees and other pollinators.

Plant for the bees — especially when they need it most. 🌿🐝💙

09/05/2026

Well… I think we found the overachiever in the flock! 🐔🥚

This is definitely a double yolker… or possibly an ostrich egg that snuck into the carton. 😂

One of these things is definitely not like the others!

Now the real question is… do we crack it open and see what’s inside, or frame it as a trophy? 🤣

09/05/2026

🍯 CREAMED HONEY IS HITTING THE SHELVES! 🍯

Our creamed honey shelf is getting restocked! Right now we have:

🍂 Cinnamon
🥜 Cinnamon Pecan
🍓 Strawberry

And more flavors will be coming out each day!

In the meantime, our refrigerator is staying pretty busy holding the rest of the batches until they’re ready. 😋

Bev makes all of our creamed honey in small batches, and each batch is about a two-week process from start to finish. It takes a little patience, but that slow process is what gives it that smooth, creamy texture we love.

So if you don’t see your favorite flavor on the shelf yet, don’t worry—it may just be chilling in the fridge waiting for its turn! 🐝🍯

Stop by Woods Bee Company and grab a container while your favorite is available! We are open Tuesday through Friday 12-5 and Saturday 10-2.

09/04/2026

🐝 An Early Morning in the Apiary — Treatment #2!

Austin was out early this morning completing our second Varroa mite treatment using oxalic acid v***rization (OAV).

One of the nice things about OAV is that we have more flexibility with temperature and time of day than with some other treatment methods. We like working early while the bees are still mostly inside the hives. Austin gears up with his veil, respirator, gloves, and safety glasses and gets to work.

And at this point, he has become a pro with the v***rizers and providing me with an impromptu video. 😂

Over the years, our equipment has evolved along with the number of hives we manage.

🐝 We started with the Varrox wand.
🐝 Then upgraded to the ProVap 110.
🐝 We added the ProVap EZ 110 so there wasn’t nearly as much bending over—especially important before Alan’s hip surgeries!
🐝 Eventually, we upgraded again to the ProVap 18-20, which runs on lithium batteries and eliminates the need to drag extension cords through the apiary.

Of course, when you’re trying to treat 200+ hives, even battery-powered equipment has its challenges. We can run through batteries before we get every colony treated.

So today Austin is putting all three v***rizers to work to get through the apiaries.

This is our second treatment in the series, and we’ll continue treating every four days through a full brood cycle. Oxalic acid v***r does not effectively reach the Varroa mites protected underneath capped brood, so the repeated treatments help us target mites as bees emerge and the mites become exposed.

Managing Varroa isn’t a one-and-done job. Monitoring mite levels, treating appropriately, and checking the results afterward are all important parts of keeping healthy colonies.

Just another morning behind the scenes at Woods Bee Company! 🐝🍯

09/03/2026

🐝☕ Coffee with a Beekeeper — This Saturday! ☕🐝

Grab your coffee and join us Saturday, September 5th at 9:00 AM on Zoom for another Coffee with a Beekeeper!

Whether you’re brand new to beekeeping or have years of experience, this is your chance to sit down, talk bees, ask questions, share what’s happening in your apiary, and learn from other beekeepers.

🐝 Bring your questions
☕ Bring your coffee
💻 Join us from wherever you are!

Saturday, September 5th | 9:00 AM | Zoom

👉 Join us here:
https://woodsbeeco.com/coffee-with-a-beekeeper/

We’ll see you Saturday morning! 🐝☕

Connect with fellow beekeepers every 1st and 3rd Saturday. Ask questions, share experiences, and enjoy a warm community coffee optional.

09/03/2026

Look what Brandon from Hub City Honey Co. brought by for us! 🍯🐝

One of their Honey Flights!

I really enjoy tasting different honeys because every one can be a little different depending on where the bees were and what they were bringing in. Different colors, different flavors — that’s one of the things that makes honey so interesting.

We’re definitely going to have some fun tasting our way through these! 😋🍯

Thanks, Brandon and Ernesto, for thinking of us and bringing this by!

Check out Hub City Honey and their Honey Flights:
https://www.hubcityhoney.com/store/p/5-2-oz-honey-flight

🐝🍯

09/01/2026

There’s just something special about watching wildlife right from the front porch. 🦌❤️

Last night, I watched these little ones and their mamas frolicking on the hill. Before long, they came parading right down the driveway like they owned the place! 😂

And now you know why we have the Deer Crossing sign! 🦌

Never a dull evening around here!