Hive Update & National Pollinator Week

No news is good news right? Since my last post I've done two hive inspections and both were pretty uneventful.  No beetles.  No moths.  No robbing.  No sign of mite infestation.  No errant queen cells. Just slow and steady drawing out of comb and laying of brood.  All of this is great news, but it still seems like my colony is small.

In terms of hive management, the only change I've made is to remove their feeder.  Clover is blooming strong here right now and I'd like them to start storing more nectar.  They have already stored an abundance of pollen, but they don't have much capped honey built up so far.  At the Northern Kentucky Beekeepers Association meeting last evening, the presenter was talking about his annual Labor Day ritual of removing honey supers and treating the hives.  Labor Day?! I had planned to try to wait until at least mid-October to determine if there was enough honey to harvest a few frames.

In other exciting news, I received a reply from the Governor concerning my request to proclaim Kentucky an official participant in National Pollinator Week.  To say I was shocked and delighted would be putting it mildly.  Below is a photo of the official signed, sealed, and stamped proclamation he sent back. 

I'm eager to keep momentum going, so I emailed this news to the president of our beekeeping association.  She seemed pretty happy to hear about the proclamation as well.  I may try to write a short article for the local community newspaper about the proclamation and some basic pollinator facts.  Perhaps next year, with more time, the association could procure a teaching hive or other materials and make a presentation at one of the local libraries.  I think it would be interesting to tie Pollinator Week into the Kentucky Proud agricultural movement somehow.  Here's to geeking out about bees, bats, butterflies and all other little busybodies that make our agriculture thrive.