Paradise in the Pines - Apiary and Honey Sales

11/06/2025

Honeybees and mental health may seem like an odd pairing… but research shows there is a real connection.

Here’s what we know:

🐝Beekeeping reduces stress + anxiety
Working with bees requires slow movements, deep breathing, patience and calm. This naturally shifts the nervous system into a more regulated state.

🐝It forces mindfulness
When you open a hive, you MUST be fully present. No multitasking, no rushing. That level of focus is similar to meditation.

🐝Nature exposure improves mental health
Simply being outdoors, watching bees forage and listening to the hive hum, has been shown to lower blood pressure and improve mood.

🐝Purpose improves wellbeing
Caring for bees gives people a sense of meaning — knowing they are supporting pollination, biodiversity, and the food system.
Bee Haven 2025
🐝The hive is a mental health metaphor
Each bee has a role… and the hive thrives because of connection, cooperation, and community. The same principles support human mental health.

So while honeybees don’t “treat” mental illness — interacting with them can support mental wellness by promoting relaxation, mindfulness, routine, connection to nature, and a sense of purpose.

Beekeeping is more than honey.
It’s therapy — in a hive suit. 🐝

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10/13/2025

Yes, I keep honeybees, but many people ask me about bumblebees. There are many similarities between the two.

Bumblebees

Female Bumble Bees (Workers & Queens)
🐝Have a stinger (but they rarely use it).
🐝You’ll often see them carrying pollen on their back legs — those bright yellow or orange pollen balls are a giveaway!
🐝Their antennae are shorter, and they have a sleeker body shape.
🐝They’re the hard-working bees buzzing from flower to flower all day long.
🐝The queens are larger and rounder — they’re the ones who start new colonies each spring.

Male Bumble Bees (Drones)
🐝Have no stinger.
🐝Don’t collect pollen — their back legs look smooth and bare.
🐝Have bigger, rounder faces and longer antennae.
🐝You’ll often spot them resting on flowers or cruising around looking for a queen to mate with.

What Happens in the Fall:
🐝As the days grow shorter and the air cools, the males and old workers live out their final days.
🐝The new queens, born late in summer, mate once, then dig into the ground or find shelter under leaves to hibernate all winter long.
When spring sunshine returns, they wake up and start the next generation of bumble bees!
🐝Bumble bees can actually shiver their flight muscles to make heat! Even though they’re technically cold-blooded, this clever trick helps them fly and stay warm on cool days.

Bumble bees truly are little wonders of nature — fuzzy, friendly, and built for survival🐝

10/04/2025

09/27/2025

“What is the queen doing in the hive this time of year?”

Things are changing inside the hive as the season shifts

🐝She’s slowing down
The queen isn’t laying thousands of eggs a day anymore. As nectar sources fade and temps cool, her egg laying naturally drops — sometimes down to just a few hundred eggs a day, and in some regions, she may even take a full break.

🐝She’s raising winter bees
The eggs she is laying now are extra special. These will become the winter bees(also known as "fat bees")— the tough, long-lived workers who’ll keep the colony warm through the cold months and help kickstart things again in spring.

🐝She’s staying cozy
The queen is tucked safely in the center of the hive, surrounded by workers who feed her and keep her warm inside the cluster. Even if things look quiet outside, there’s a lot happening inside.

🐝The colony is switching gears
The whole hive is in “winter prep” mode — sealing cracks with propolis, conserving resources, and tightening up the nest. The queen’s slower laying helps make sure they don’t raise more brood than they can care for through winter.
Bee Haven 2025
So while she may not be laying like crazy, the queen is still at the heart of the colony’s winter survival plan.

09/25/2025

This is why I refuse to haggle with anyone. If you don't like my prices, buy this crap from China. Or, buy a hive and make your own honey. It takes a lot of work to make "real" honey.

09/19/2025

The bees are bringing in loads of pollen — little golden baskets packed on their hind legs.
It’s amazing to see this in September.

What’s the purpose of pollen this time of year?
🐝Pollen is the honey bee’s main source of protein. Even in the fall, colonies need it to:
🐝Raise the last rounds of winter bees (the fat-bodied bees that will survive until spring).
🐝Keep brood healthy and well-fed.
🐝Store some for future use.

Where are they finding it in September?
🐝Goldenrod
🐝Asters
🐝Clover (if still blooming)
🐝Other late-blooming wildflowers and weeds

How does pollen stick to their legs?
Bees have special “pollen baskets” called corbiculae on their hind legs.
They pack pollen into neat little balls by mixing it with nectar and saliva, then carry it back to the hive to store as “bee bread.”
Bee haven 2025
A loaded forager can carry about half her body weight in pollen!

09/10/2025

How does a honeybee stinger work? Can she (the drones, males, don't have stingers)sting more than once?

🐝On humans (and other mammals):
Nope. Honey bee stingers are barbed like tiny fishhooks. Once they puncture our thick, stretchy skin, those barbs lock in. The bee simply can’t pull it back out.

🐝What happens next?
When the bee pulls away, the stinger rips free — venom sac, muscles, and nerves included. This is why honey bees die after stinging mammals.

🐝On other insects:
Different story! When stinging softer-bodied insects (like wasps, hornets, or even other bees), the stinger doesn’t get caught. The bee can pull it out and sting again if needed.

🐝The venom sac keeps pumping:
Even after the bee is gone, the venom sac attached to the stinger continues to pulse and release venom. That’s why it’s so important to scrape a stinger out quickly (don’t pinch it).

👉 So, can bees ever get their stinger back?

On humans/mammals = almost never. The stinger gets stuck, and the bee dies.

On insects = yes, the bee survives and can sting again.

Honey bees don’t sting for fun — it’s always about defending their colony. Their stinger is nature’s ultimate last-resort defense: powerful, effective, and sadly, their final act.

In this short, we'll explore what occurs when a bee stings you and the true reasons behind their death afterwards. ...

09/08/2025

Wasp stings vs honeybee stings:

- Venom composition
Honey bee venom contains melittin, which causes pain, inflammation, and tissue damage, but the sting usually peaks quickly and then fades.

Wasp venom contains acetylcholine and other pain-inducing chemicals that stimulate your nerves more intensely. This makes the sting feel sharper and more burning.

-Stinger design
Honey bees have a barbed stinger, so once they sting, it gets stuck in your skin, and the bee dies. The venom pump keeps releasing venom, but only from that one sting.

Wasps have a smooth stinger, which means they can sting multiple times and inject venom more efficiently.

-Venom quantity
Wasps can inject a higher concentration of venom per sting compared to a single bee sting.
Bee Haven 2025
In short, wasp venom is chemically more irritating to nerve endings, and their ability to sting repeatedly makes it feel worse.

09/07/2025

Why do bees supercede their queen?

Honey bees have a complex social structure, and the process of supersedure, where a new queen replaces the current queen, is a natural part of their reproductive strategy. Honey bees have several mechanisms to determine when to supersede a queen. Here's how they know when and why to supersede the current queen:

Age and Fertility: Queens have a limited lifespan, typically ranging from one to several years, depending on their genetics and the level of care they receive. As a queen ages, her fertility decreases, and she may not lay as many eggs as before. Honey bees can detect these changes in her pheromones and egg-laying patterns.

Queen Pheromones: The queen bee produces pheromones that regulate the behavior and physiology of the worker bees in the colony. When a queen starts to decline in fertility or becomes unhealthy, her pheromone production may decrease or change. Worker bees can detect these changes and interpret them as a signal that the queen needs to be replaced.

Queen Physical Condition: Worker bees may also assess the physical condition of the queen. If she becomes injured, weak, or unable to perform her duties, the worker bees may initiate supersedure.

A big worry for the beekeeper is when a queen is replaced late in the summer or early fall. The new queen must go on a mating flight about a week after she emerges. The weather has to be sunny, about 70 degrees with little wind. There also have to be drones hanging out in the Drone Congregation Area. If the queen fails to mate, the colony will not survive.

Bee Haven 2023

09/07/2025

How Does the Queen Bee Lay Eggs Straight in the Cell?

A queen bee has a special job — she’s the mother of the hive, laying up to 2,000 eggs a day during peak season!

Here’s how she lays them so perfectly upright in the bottom of each cell:

🐝Perfect Fit for the Job – The queen’s long abdomen is just the right length to reach deep into the honeycomb cell.

🐝Precision Positioning – She stands over the cell, lowers her abdomen inside, and uses her muscles to place the egg neatly at the very bottom.

🐝Sticky Start – Each egg is slightly sticky at one end, so it stays upright until the larva hatches in 3 days.

🐝Fertilized or Unfertilized? – As she lays, the queen decides whether to release stored s***m from her s***matheca (for a fertilized egg → female worker or queen) or skip it (unfertilized → male drone).
Bee Haven 2025
It’s truly nature’s precision work—and the entire colony depends on her accuracy.
A healthy, well-laid brood pattern is one of the most exciting signs for a beekeeper, because it means the hive has a strong, thriving future ahead.

09/05/2025

Ever wonder if honeybees sleep at night and work through the day, just like us?

The short answer is yes — but their version of sleep looks a little different than ours.

When a bee is “sleeping,” she’ll slow right down: her antennae droop, her little body goes still, and her brain activity takes a rest.

Foragers (the older bees that go out to collect nectar and pollen) usually catch their sleep at night, because they need the sun to find their way around. Younger bees, like nurse bees, nap in shifts — day or night — since they’re busy caring for brood and keeping the hive running.

Most of the big action happens in the daytime: foraging, cleaning, building, guarding… all the hive chores. But the hive never really “shuts down” completely — there’s always someone awake making sure things are ticking along.

🐝Fun fact: Just like us when we’re overtired, sleep-deprived bees get sloppy. Their famous waggle dance turns into more of a wobble dance, and that makes it harder for their sisters to find food sources.
Bee Haven 2025
So yes — bees work mostly in the day and sleep mostly at night, but there’s always a little hum of activity going on, no matter the hour. 🐝

08/27/2025

Do Honey Bees P**p in Their Hive?
Let's Clear the Air on That One... 💩🐝

Healthy honey bees do not defecate inside the hive.

Even in the coldest months, bees will hold it in for days or even weeks until there’s a warm enough day for what’s called a cleansing flight — when they leave the hive to take care of business far from home.

Why?
Because honey bees are incredibly hygienic.
Any waste inside the hive could lead to dangerous conditions — spreading bacteria, fungi, or parasites — so they go to great lengths to keep their environment clean.

If bees do defecate inside the hive, it’s not normal. It usually points to:
🐝Disease, like Nosema (a gut parasite)
🐝Stress, overcrowding, or poor ventilation
🐝Extended cold weather preventing cleansing flights (they can "hold it" for up to 4 months)
🐝Maintaining a clean hive is essential for colony health — just another example of how bees are smarter (and tidier) than we often realize.

Does the Queen Bee P**p in the Hive?
Yes — the queen bee does defecate in the hive, but here's the important part:
🐝Her waste is minimal and doesn’t pose a hygiene problem.
🐝Worker bees clean up after her as part of their daily duties.

Why It’s Different for the Queen:
The queen stays inside the hive her entire life (except during mating flights, or when the colony swarms), so she can’t go on cleansing flights like the workers do.
Instead, worker bees act as her personal cleaning crew, removing waste and keeping her chamber spotless.
Since the queen’s diet is almost entirely royal jelly and she doesn’t exert herself like worker bees, her digestion is efficient and her waste output is relatively low.
Bee Haven @2025
So next time you hear someone say bees p**p in the hive... you can help clear the air, too. 😉