The New Hive
Spring is a busy time for the beekeeper.
I only had one bee colony that survived the winter and I have been feeding them a sugar-water syrup for a few weeks. Thursday night my new colony of bees arrived.
My surviving colony is of Italian bees, from the Apennine Peninsula of Italy, they are the most popular type of bee in America, but may not be the best suited the Pacific Northwest. Since I was ordering a new colony I decided to get Carniolan bees, from the region of Carniola, now in Slovenia. They are the second most popular species among beekeepers and are known for working in cooler temperatures, resistance to some diseases and parasites and being adept at adjusting worker population to nectar availability. This may help in early spring.
I won’t really know if they are a good fit for my apiary for about a year, but you rest assured I’ll keep you informed.