Social Media Highlights!
This month since we've been posting on social media quite a bit lately, we wanted to put together a "highlights reel" for some of our favourites that you might have missed! We aim to entertain, amuse but also inform. Pollinators and the challenges they face are not just important to us, they effectively determine the fate of honey production and food production in general 🍯🍓 As always, please let us know if you have any topics you'd like us to discuss or go over, we are after all writing for you!
Wanted!
Fitzy McWaspy, a known hive enterer, she's been spotted recently lurking around our hives with unknown intentions. Approach with caution, contact us immediately if seen!
(simply tongue in cheek! While wasps can cause major problems, we recognize their role in the overall ecosystem while at the same time taking necessary precautions to protect our buzzy bees 🐝🐝🐝)
Simply Irresistible
This magnificent wild pollinator is called Xylocopa violacea, otherwise know as the violet carpenter bee. It can be found in European countries and parts of Asia and is the largest bee in Europe! Although its size can be intimidating, it is quite harmless ❤️
Work Hazards
There is no such thing as a free lunch! This spider has ambushed a honeybee as she was sourcing this sunflower for nectar. Spiders, frogs, dragonflies, and insect eating birds can take a toll on the colony's workforce. With hundreds of foragers meeting an undesirable end every day, we must remember that bees provide a valuable food source to more than we humans! It's a good thing a healthy queen can lay up to a thousand eggs a day to keep populations growing despite natural predators!
April Fools
For the first time in history (maybe), the unimaginable combination that we've all been waiting for. Beginning today, John Russell Honey is 🐝most🐝 proud to present our April Flavour of the Month: Behold! Honey with Meatballs! A mouth watering sensation that will leave you breathless, sure to delight at every table around the world, this culinary masterpiece has been decades in the making to strike the optimal balance between meatball and honey that everyone craves deep inside. If you are among those prepared to join us on this gastronomical journey into the unknown, seize the impossible here and now by visiting honeyb.ca/meat
Beekeeping for Preschoolers Workshop. ( Ages 1 to 5 )
Part of our all ages program, we now offer our Beekeeping For Toddlers program at a discount to all Buzz Club members in good standing.
This comprehensive short course will cover theory and practice on the crucial areas of beginner beekeeping:
1) Spring Management
2) Suit-less beekeeping : “Veils are for Babies, and I’m a big boy/girl now”
3) Organic or “Soft” acid treatments vs Organophosphates and mitacides
4) Juggling peewee soccer, 250 colonies, and afternoon naps
5) Getting hive checks done before a 7:00 pm bedtime
6) Cowen or Dandent? Who makes the best 120 frame extractors?
7) Pampers or Huggies? What’s best for a long day in the apiary?
Course is held on November 3rd and December 15 on Thursday evenings. ( 2 sessions total ) at the Town Center Complex, Churchill Manitoba.
Only 150 spots available. First come first claimed, No Reservations.
Course Costs: $875.00 + $80.00 equipment fees. Buzz Club Members : $874.99
To register contact John Russell at : honeyb@mymts.net
Photo is for demonstrative purposes only, do NOT try this at home, for safety reasons always consult your local federally certified tandem beekeeping professional. For more information on this program please visit honeyb.ca/babyb
Lavender!
Lavender is a wonderfully useful plant! You can use it in potpourri, you can put it in soaps, infuse its oils for creams and scents and bath products AND you can eat it!
This bumblebee is a Heath, Garden, or a White Tail variety. (It's trickier to identify from the side.) and they are actually one of the best pollinators for lavender and other small bell shaped blooms. They have a very long proboscis to get deep into the cups and get to that sweet sweet flower nectar.
We don't grow lavender in Manitoba of sufficient quantity to produce lavender bloom honey, but we do a very respectable infusion honey that you can find right here honeyb.ca/lavender
It's Official!
The Prairie Crocus! Not only is it Manitoba's official provincial flower (Pulsatilla ludoviciana), but it is the first bloom of spring on the prairies. Usually seen popping up through patches of snow as early as March, it first appears when it's yet too cold for bees to fly. It is however labeled "Nature's Promise" of the beginning of the end for winter's grip on the land.
Pollinator Planting
In case you missed our newest addition: Gardening season is almost upon us (or never ends for some!) and we're proud to support our local pollinators with these wildflower seed packets, add to your next order and show some love not just to our bumblebees and honeybees, but also to the other very important pollinators that rely on wildflowers for their nourishment and the continued success of our local environment! Find out more at honeyb.ca/wild
Stay In The Loop
Please like and follow us on the socials! We treasure your feedback, never hesitate to let us known if you'd like to see more of something or less of something else on any of our social media accounts. Here are our current accounts as of the date of this newsletter: