While we are very busy preparing the course for the upcoming season, we have been equally busy preparing the apiary for its newest tenants. This past weekend I picked up 4 new "Nucs" or nucleus hives from Blue Ridge Honey Company in Lakemont Georgia. The "Nucs" consist of 5 frames of brood, a queen bee, and a lot of bees! I installed all the "Nucs" into their permanent home off the 14th fairway on Saturday.
 |
| The white boxes are "Nucs" which contain 5 frames of bees. |
 |
| Our first hive with a new hive next to it. |
During the winter, our staff put together 3 new Langstroth hives which brings our total to 5 hives. While last year was a successful year with the bees, we did loose 1 hive at the end of the season due to an ineffective queen. I am told that this is common and one of the main reasons that a hive fails. Now that we know what to look for, we can correct this before we have a failure in the future.
 |
| Danny Jones from Syngenta getting an up close look at our bees. |
 |
| Cleaning old frames and preparing them for the new hives. |
The bees have had a positive effect on the course and with our environmental outreach. Additionally, the small amount of honey that we did produce last year was exceptional. With a little luck and a good season, we hope to have honey for sale by late summer.
