Our Bee Blog

I was honored to be chosen the Wisconsin Honey Producers 2019 Beekeeper of the Year. I think the world of the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association and all the people that contribute so much time to make it successful. I am also thankful for all the people who have contributed to its success over so many years.   Here is a reprint from the WHPA's month publication, The Badger Bee On November 2, 2019 Kent Pegorsch was honored as WHPA’s 2019 Beekeeper of the Year at the annual Fall Convention in Fond du Lac, WI. Kent is the current WHPA President and also serves as a Director for the American Beekeeping Federation....  Read more

The annual convention of the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association is held the first weekend in November every year.  This meeting is one of the highlights of my beekeeping year.  At the convention, I get to catch up with old friends, make new ones and listen to some of the best beekeepers in the United States speak.   Read more

Honeybee colonies die.  They die in the spring.  They die in the summer.  They die in the fall and they especially die in the winter in Wisconsin. Where do we get bees from the replace losses?  We can spilt strong hives in the spring and summer.  Splitting is creating two hives from one and adding a queen to make two complete colonies.  We can buy nucs.  Nucs are small hives that can be purchased from other beekeepers.  We can buy packages.  This blog will focus on packages.  What is a package?  A package is two or three pounds of worker...  Read more

Why are the honeybees doing okay?  Almonds. Almond pollination and the revenue it provides has made beekeeping profitable and allowed beekeepers to invest in their colonies.  I believe that was true and may continue to be true but it is not the whole story. Other factors that contribute are honey prices and hobbyist interest.  For now, I am going to ignore the complex issue of hobbyist interest and the positive and negative issues surrounding this phenomon.  I will focus on the majority of colonies involved in commercial operations and not on the majority of beekeepers. at this time, I believe...  Read more

One of the most common questions I get asked is, "How are the honeybees doing?"  My answer is, "It's complicated." The honeybees are doing well but it is because pollination and honey revenue are allowing beekeepers to invest resources into maintaining the health of the honeybee colonies.  For the sake of this discussion, I will exclude the recent popularity of hobbyist beekeeping.  More than ever, agriculture in the United States in relying on professional beekeepers to provide bees for pollination.  Farmers realize that renting bee colonies substantially raises their production.  Because of this demand, prices paid for honeybee colony rental...  Read more