It's that time of year again. We're still in the middle of winter but it's time to start thinking about how many packages will be needed for expansion or to replace winter losses. The phone is already starting to ring with inquires and people who want on the list for this spring.

We do not have the 2009 prices finalized yet, but current indications suggest they are shaping up to be comparable with last year. If anyone wants to pick up packages that come through our place in Lynnville, February is the best time to reserve but we normally have space on the truck through March as well. We require a 50% deposit to finalize orders. We plan to offer 2 pound and 3 pound packages with a Carniolan or Italian queen again. 4# packages with 2 queens are gaining popularity also--you shake half the bees into separate boxes and give each one of them a queen. A syrup sprayer is your best friend when you're gauging when you've shaken half of the bees out. It's much easier to estimate when the bees are clumped together rather than flying around. The stickiness also keeps them out of the air as they fill their bellies and clean the syrup out of their new home.

It will probably be one more month before we get into the colonies. With any luck, we will have a break of warmer weather sometime after the middle of February. Late February and early March is the time when we really need to check on feed in some of the colonies. Last February that break in the weather didn't really materialize, but I still got around with a sled in temperatures in the upper twenties and thirties.

As for now, it is eight degrees above zero with a fresh blanket of overnight snow.

Here I have a picture of a native Estonian beekeeper selling her wares in the Christmas Market in the capital city of Tallinn. She was very friendly and gave me a beekeeping price-list in Estonian language "just in case."

I've been back in Iowa for a number of days now. In mid-November I headed to the UK to do some work for my graduate degree, and then I had Christmas in Estonia and New Year's in Sweden. Below I have an image from the Irish farm where I looked at some letters in Jim Ryan's collection (he has a ton of information on the Irish Beekeepers' history).

Today there are several inches of snow on the ground. It's hard to believe that in about a month it will be time to open up the hives again and give some of them a shot of syrup. I keep hoping most of them will live through the winter--mites were under control and we had great feeding weather in the fall. More young bees went into this winter than last winter.

The Welcoming Christmas Tree on O'Connell St, Dublin

This is the abandoned gate lodge at Jim Ryan's ancestral farm.