Year 1 - January Unveiling My Bee Journal 🖊️

-Embarking on my Wyoming beekeeping adventure.

A Little Background

After losing all my hives to Colony Collapse Disorder, I found myself stuck with empty, virus-contaminated equipment. While some beekeepers turned to gamma-irradiated gear, there were no irradiation facilities nearby. Was all that new equipment destined for the trash?

Instead of heading to the dump, it lingered for a season. Then, a memory from my youth surfaced—how we dealt with diseased hives. The frames were discarded, but the woodenware was scraped, scorched, and repurposed. Now armed with a plan and nothing to lose but time, I decided to give it a shot.

The Game Plan

Out went the frames. The woodenware got a thorough scraping and scorching, followed by a dip in a Clorox solution, just to be on the safe side.

Back in my bee wrangling days, I had dabbled in small cell beekeeping and still had a few unused cases of small cell-sized plastic frames from Mann Lake. It was time to put them to good use.

The Why

It’s been a decade since my first foray into small cell beekeeping. Why revisit it? Back then, my perspective was that of a commercial beekeeper. Today, as a natural beekeeper, my outlook has evolved. There’s bound to be something new to see and learn. After all, I’m ten years wiser now, right?

Bee Chronicles

This journal will be a canvas for my observations and musings as I navigate through this beekeeping journey.

Excited to share! ✨

-Cheers, D 🐝🤠