We are committed to providing local, raw honey, honeycomb, and pollen. In addition, we have local honeycomb, pollen, and wax products.
We are committed to providing delicious, local, raw, healthy honey that is only strained and warmed to normal hive temperatures. Lastly, we do swarm catches. Please contact us for any questions you may have about bees and products from the hive.
The first of the berries are probably ripe now. Thank you bees. 🐝 We definitely need to check on them and beat the birds to ‘em. Here are some photos from a few weeks ago. Do you know which berries they are? They start blooming in April/May. They’re covered in lots of short thorns and the plants slowly spread. They are a lot shorter than the Himalayan blackberries as well. Marionberries?
One week from today…Come join us for A Day in the Lavender Field. Bring your blanket & lunch and enjoy the relaxing sweet smells of lavender. Enjoy a fresh lavender wreath, hand-crafted skin & hair care products, along with gifts for the lavender lover in your life. We’ll have local honey Soil & Hive honey, refreshing drinks from Malakina’s Shave Ice, painting classes (new), and the ever-popular wreath-making class with Jillian. April Farms is located at 5905 SW Looking Glass Dr Gaston, OR 97119. The event will be held July 12, 13, and 14 from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.
The pollinator hedges at the farm are in full bloom. They surround the farm, crisscross it, outlining the fields, creating rooms, and following the lanes and paths. I don’t know the names of all the plants grown on the fences, but the insects, birds, and other animals sure do enjoy them. Here are a few of the flowers.
We went up the hill to find some cool air. The flowers were buzzing with bees. The vineyards far down below are bright green again.
The small wild radish field around the orchard has been blooming again. The orchard is a magnet for swarms. Usually a swarm decides to live there each year.
The blackberry flow is on and about half way through. So, we checked on the supers yesterday evening. Most of the hives were still only working on 2 or 3 frames in their supers, but they have been back filling their brood chambers, pushing the brood lower into the hives. This let us remove one more queen excluder. Only one excluder left to go. We did find a couple of hives though that needed a second super, so yeah! Then we came to the Carniolan. That hive already had a full second super, so they got a third one. I’m so glad that this spring we made a couple of queens from this colony, but I wish we had of switched the base out for a more solid one.
After we finished up the colony removals yesterday morning, we needed a break from those bees. 16 stings for me and 3 for my mum earned us a respite. So, we headed up into the coast range. The hills were covered in wildflowers. We ended up at a little town with a pizzeria from the 80s next to a grass runway, a lake, and a mountain stream. It was still too cold for a swim though, but the hot pizza was perfect.
Just another day at the office.
Colony removal and cutout #1. These are spicy bees.
This queenless swarm capture needed help. So, Mandy came to the rescue with a virgin queen. Cheers!
The main wild radish field. Bee food.
Purple
The main wild radish field is starting to burst with flowers. What will the bees choose to feast on? Blackberry, Linden, Vetch, or Wild Radish?
The Tilia trees are just starting to bloom. Have you seen them around lining the streets? This tree is most likely the American Basswood (Tilia americana L. – American basswood, American linden). Urban beekeeping west of Portland has a lot of Tilia honey in the mix. Do you like Tilia/Lime/Basswood/Linden honey? We love it. It’s a clear honey that can be a white honey with a slight green hue when it’s new. It also has a menthol fragrance that reminds us of peppermint/spearmint, i.e. candy canes. Side note, each Tilia trees can produce up to 40lb of honey. If you are interested, we still have a few jars left from last year’s harvest that won a blue ribbon at the State Fair.
The wild radish field is starting to bloom again. This field is behind the other ones because it was plowed in April. Nevertheless, it’s blooming again. Hopefully it will keep going until January like it did last year.
Everything is blooming now and the bees are all over the flowers. The fields are full of vetch, wild radish, daisies, and other flowers. And, the blackberry hedges and rows are starting to bloom as well. Summer is almost here!
This is the swarm we just caught. We decided to give them drawn comb, because the blackberry and linden flows are on. The frames had old pollen in them though and other debris. Within 24 hours, this is the debris pile in front of the hive. These bees are quickly cleaning house. Would you consider this hygienic behaviour? .
Birds in the apiary.
It was raining yesterday, so we went to the kitchen and cut up some honeycomb.
The fields are getting tall. So, my mum and I decided to take a walk out into them. Let’s see what the bees have been feasting on.
Afternoon Beehives
We did a honey tasting yesterday. It was fun introducing people to special Oregon honeys. Do you have a favorite honey? I think the most popular yesterday was our blue ribbon linden and black locust honey. It was a white honey with a slight green hue and a menthol fragrance. It sold out almost immediately, but we still have it in honeycomb.
Soil and Hive is set and ready to go. Stop on by and taste our award winning honey. See which ones go best with your favorite tea.
Here’s what in store for today…
Whilst you are here, check out our award winning wax and candles, as well.
Here’s what’s in store for today…
The Eugene Tea Festival is back for the second year and will happen today, Sunday, May 26, 2024, from 10 AM - 4 PM at the Farmers Market Pavilion in downtown Eugene.
This year, inclusive admission is available so folks can attend the festival for free! On top of that, a custom-designed commemorative cup is available through paid general admission (only $10). Registration is available at the Eugene Tea Festival website: www.eugeneteafest.org. There will be 11 unique workshops available, some of which include tea tastings. The workshops are free to all festival attendees, but space is limited, so register online to secure your seat as they are selling out quickly!
A sky full of bees! 🐝
The blackberry are so close to opening. Are you ready?
Honeybee swarm capture. 🐝
Spring
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Just another day at the office.
Colony removal and cutout #1. These are spicy bees.
This is the swarm we just caught. We decided to give them drawn comb, because the blackberry and linden flows are on. The frames had old pollen in them though and other debris. Within 24 hours, this is the debris pile in front of the hive. These bees are quickly cleaning house. Would you consider this hygienic behaviour? #swarm #beekeepernearestme #beekeeping. #beekeeper #soilandhive #oregonbeekeeper
Birds in the apiary.
Birds in the apiary.
Afternoon Beehives
Honeybee swarm capture. 🐝
Spring
Sunset at the bees yesterday.
Honeybee swarm! This hive swarmed and went on their way. If you need a local beekeeper in the Portland/Beaverton/Hillsboro Oregon area to save a honeybee swarm, please give us a call. 971-245-2481 https://soilandhive.com/swarm/
A swarm trap in a tree. These honeybees were rescued and rehomed. Do you need a beekeeper in the Portland, Oregon area? 971-245-4281 https://soilandhive.com/swarm/
Fishing for Bees Honeybee Rescue & Rehoming Service (971) 245-4281 soilandhive.com
We received a swarm call, but the honey bees were no longer a swarm but an established colony. We tried baiting out the honey bees with a swarm trap but they were not interested. We were not able to determine the location of the bees beyond the wall. The honey bees were entering and exiting through holes in the cinder blocks used for the gas lines. Do you have any ideas on how to solve this problem?
Swarm Capture #swarmcapture #honeybees #oregonbeekeeper #soilandhive
Round 2 of oxalic acid vaporization. We haven’t looked into a hive yet this year, so we’re just going to do 3 rounds of OA. When do you do spring mite treatments? What do you use? #oxalicacid #mites #beekeeping #spring #oregon #oregonbeekeeper #soilandhive
Winter Bees #honeybees #bees #beehives #beekeeping #farmlife #oregon #winter #oregonbeekeeper #soilandhive
Busy bees #honeybees #bees #beehives #beekeeping #winter #oregonbeekeeper #soilandhive
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