Lifes Crossroads

What is Bearding? 🐝🧔🏻‍♂️

To keep their honey at the correct temperature & allow for airflow to the hive, bees may cluster on the front of the hive, helping the internal temperature stay cool. This often resembles a fuzzy beard. They may even fan their wings to push air into the hive on those hot summer days 🥵

🌺 Do you see any familiar faces on these pollinator-friendly flowers? Bees aren’t the only pollinators in your garden! 🦋

A worker bee born in the summer lives approximately 40 days, visits 1000 flowers, and produces less than 1 tablespoon of honey. For us, it's a tablespoon of honey. For the bee, it’s their life’s work 🐝🍯

Let’s learn about Queen spotting 👑 How do we identify her among thousands of worker bees?

The Queen is typically slightly larger than a worker bee with a long abdomen. Since it’s her job to lay eggs, you’ll likely find her in the nursery among brood.

In the photo below, the Queen was easily distinguishable, as she was marked with a pink spot. However, this is not always the case, so beekeepers must be aware of how to identify her.