It's been about 2 weeks since we installed our swarm traps. It's still a bit cold, so we are still waiting to see if we catch anything!
We prefer to catch our honeybees in swarm traps rather than buying bee packages or nucs. In this way, we try to ensure that the bees we keep are local bees that are acclimated to our local climate and environment. And it is a matter of preference as well as a game of patience and willingness to fail. Our goal is to have the strongest colonies we can manage and hope that in doing so, we help strengthen the local honeybee population at large.
For us, this is the summer of the pollinators in general. We believe that if you keep bees, you should provide them with as rich a nectar flow throughout the season as possible. However, it's not all about honeybees either! Native bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, etc are all in need of our support. We'll be installing pollinator houses for mason bees and leafcutter bees. We'll be growing plants specifically for certain types of pollinators as well. Particularly, we've grown several milkweed plants from seed to help support the monarch butterfly population.
Is it planting time yet?! As we build out the pollinator garden, we really hope to see a lot of happy pollinators throughout this coming summer!