Bee Season 2026 Preparations
- tipsygoosefarm
- Mar 13
- 2 min read
Preparing for the 2026 bee season means tackling several important tasks to ensure a strong and thriving apiary. After losing my colony last season, I am focusing on rebuilding by sourcing local Queens and increasing my number of hives.
Sourcing Local Queens to Rebuild the Apiary
One of the biggest challenges after losing a colony is finding healthy, well-adapted Queens. Local Queens tend to be better suited to the environment and climate, which improves the chances of colony survival. Especially when I live in a cold Northern climate, ordering an African Queen would be a mistake! Local is best. Luckily I have a greatl bee Mentor who not only raises Queens locally for sale but is a wealth of knowledge when I have questions.
In search of local a Queen for your apiary? Steps to source Queens:
Contacting local beekeepers: Networking with experienced beekeepers nearby helps find reputable queen breeders.
Attending bee clubs and fairs: These events often have queen sales or can connect you with breeders.
Checking for disease-free stock: Ensuring queens come from healthy colonies reduces risks of spreading pests or illnesses.
Ordering early: Queens can be in high demand, so placing orders well before the season starts is crucial.
2026: The Year of Learning to Build Hives
Since hives can be costly, I am learning to build my own Langstroth hives from scratch. This approach will allow me to expand my apiary, manage more colonies, and be ready to split hives if I notice signs of swarming. A brand new hive built locally cost me $250 two seasons ago. That's not including the needed frames and foundations. I'm hoping to drastically reduce the cost by building my own.
The Langstroth hive is a popular hive design with universal dimensions. This type of hive is popular for its modular design and ease of management. Building hives myself offers several benefits:
Cost savings: Materials like pine boards and nails are affordable compared to buying ready-made hives.
Customization: I can tailor hive dimensions and features to my preferences-especially helpful for weight management
Learning experience: Building hives deepens my understanding of hive structure and maintenance.
There are endless options online to buy building plans for the different boxes you will need for the hive. Since I have 1 complete hive, I just measured what I have and built everything for a second. My carpentry skills are limited and my tools are pretty basic. It was a bit of trial and error but in the end I have successfully built 1 entire hive: base, 2 brood boxes, 2 honey supers, top board and lid. It's not perfect. But now that I sort of know what I'm doing, I'm ready to keep on building!
The more hives I can build at low cost, the more colonies of bees I can house on the farm.
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