The last three weeks have been interesting to say the least. Three weeks ago the Pacific Northwest was hit with a major cold front. Lots of snow and ice. About a quarter million folks were without power in the Portland metro area. This is not counting areas further north and south. I’ve attached a short video I took before sunrise one of those snowy mornings! Then just like that the first signs of spring! Here are a couple of videos of a couple of honeybee hives that have survived the winter. These two hives are from a wild swarm I caught three years ago in the woods on the lower Columbia river. I will split those two have around the first of second week of April, so we will have four strong hives from that single wild swarm of honeybees. The thing about wild honeybees, they are resilient!! They have learned to commingle with hive pest like the Varro Destructor mite and hive beetles. These pests can only survive in a honeybee colony. The two pests kill domesticated honeybees. These domesticated honeybees are to be treated with chemicals. These chemicals are used to kill these hive pest but at the same time they weaken the colony bigtime!! So most of the time these colonies can not survive the winter. But wild honeybees not only survive they thrive!! Hence, natural wonderful honey and hearty pollinators! Most folks don’t relies there are thousands of living organisms in a single honeybee colony and when chemicals are introduced to the hive those very chemicals do not only weaken the honeybee population but they also kill many of those beneficial organisms. Honeybees are a true wonderment!! I could go on forever talking about them!!
I also attached a few wildlife photos. Plus one of the sunrise out our back porch. Enjoy!
