The Drone

A drone's work is never done.  You probably know the term "worker bee."  They do all the work, build the hive, fetch the pollen and nectar, plus a lot more.  And you've probably heard about the queen, who has the very big task of birthing all the little bees.  But drones, what do they do?  Drones are the carriers of the next generation.  They fly out to find queens from other colonies and pass along their genes....thus insuring the continuity of the honey bee race, and of their particular colony.

If ever a plant has received a raw deal, it's the Common Dandelion.  Considered a pesky weed by modern homeowners, it was once a culinary delicacy.  So here's a thought:  Instead of killing them, cultivate them.  Try their flowers as a wine, or their leaves in a salad.  In fact, the Dandelion leaf is how the plant gets its name.  In old French, dent-de-lion means "lion's tooth," a great description of the leaves' signature shape.

Queen Bee Mysteries

I'd like to introduce everyone to a fellow bee friend of mine. Her name is Deb Baker and in addition to loving bees, she is also a mystery author with two established series. When I asked Deb to tell my readers a bit about herself, here is what she said.

"Like honeybees, I have to keep moving, so one day I decided to write something completely different. My agent and I brainstormed. What wasn't 'beeing' done? Then we hit on the idea of introducing a beekeeper to the world of mysteries, which was perfect for me (I love nature). From that tiny glimmer, I created a small Wisconsin town and the protagonist Story Fischer, a new beekeeper with a lot to learn. My publisher liked the idea and so here I am, waiting for the first in the Queen Bee series (Buzz Off) to come out in September under my pen name Hannah Reed.

And like Story, I have much to learn about those tiny important insects. Joining the local beekeepers association and helping out in the club's beeyard has been exciting research. While having my own hives isn't an option right now, I've planted bee-friendly flowers and participate in the Great Sunflower Project every year, where I monitor and record bee activity in my area."

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Here's a little about the book:

It's September-National Honey Month-in Moraine, Wisconsin, and things are looking up for Story Fischer. Her messy divorce is final; the honey from her beekeeping business has been harvested; and the Wild Clover, the market she owns, is thriving. Life seems pretty sweet until her mentor in the honey business is found stung to death in his apiary.

Story is still trying to explain to the panicked locals that Manny was killed by wasps, not honeybees, when another body is found floating in the Oconomowoc River. This time the evidence points to Story's ex. Sure, Clay's a womanizer and a buzz kill-but a murderer?

With the townsfolk stirred up against her honeybees, and a handsome cop-who also happens to be Story's former high school sweetheart-putting Clay in cuffs, it's up to Story to get them both out of a very sticky situation.

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Buzz Off is now available for pre-order. To celebrate I'm running a special spring deal. Pre-order Buzz Off before May 1st and prove it by sending a copy of the receipt - either email (hannahreed51@gmail.com) or snail mail (email for the address) and you'll be entered in the May 1st drawing for a honey of a mystery prize. Your favorite brick-and-mortar bookstore can handle the pre-order for you. Or take care of it right now.


Order from Barnes and Noble Here
Order from Amazon Here
Visit the Queen Bee Facebook Page
Visit the Queen Bee Website


Thanks Deb,
I've got mine ordered and I can't wait to read it!




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To Do List

March Chores:

If you've medicated your hives, remember to remove all medication in time for the nectar flow, no one wants to get that stuff in their honey.

Monitor the hives to be certain they are not preparing to swarm since this is the season for it.  One indication that they are preparing to swarm is that they are trying to produce multiple queen cells.  If you find these, simply cut them out.  Swarming may be a natural occurance, but to a beekeeper, it's not really a good thing.  During a swarm, half of the colony will leave.  That means that the populations suddenly drops dramatically, and there is half the honey being brought in until they get their poplulation back up to normal which can take about a month.  This can put a big dent in your total honey harvest.

You Can Make A Difference

Join the Great Sunflower Project.

Can you plant a few sunflower seeds?  Do you have a 1/2 hour to count the bees that visit it and report the amount?  Great!  You are now a perfect candidate for the project.  You can help create a habitat to understand and protect our pollinators. Sure you'll have to wait til next spring to start planting your sunflowers, but keep the project in mind and plan ahead.

All you do is:

• Sign up at
• Plant sunflower seeds
• Describe your garden
• Count how many bees visit your flower in 5 minutes
• Report your observations

Are you a teacher or a student?  Here is a great project for the whole class.  It's also a fun project for community centers, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, even nursing homes.  By last May, about 30,000 people from every US state and province in Canada signed up to participate this year.  They can even send you the seeds!  Just think, by planting a few sunflower seeds, you are not only supporting bees, but the environment overall.  Trees, flowers and crops must have pollinators to be productive.  By making that contribution, you're also helping support the food production that is important to us all.

Ask your family and friends to join and make it a group project.  Don't worry about forgetting by the time spring rolls around, I'll post this again after the first of the year to remind everybody. 

Sign up at http://www.greatsunflower.org/

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Gingerbee Cookies

1 1/2 cups honey                         2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup butter softened                1 Tbs ground ginger 
1  egg                                          1 Tbs cinnamon
5 cups AP flour                            1 tsp ground cloves

In large bowl, cream honey and butter until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg. Add flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and cloves; mix until combined.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

When dough is chilled, divide dough in half; return one half to frig.  Dust work surface and dough with flour.  Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick.  Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutter; transfer to well-greased baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining dough from frig.

Bake at 350* for 10 to 12 minutes 
Makes about 3 dozen cookies