Here it is mid-May... After a very snowy winter and some delays getting bees to Anchorage, my bees have been in hives now for about four days.

I have ten hives this year, and my plan is to make queens again this summer.

My thoughts about making queens has changed over the years. As the practice of wintering bees in Alaska has become more popular and beekeepers are finding more and more success, I am beginning to wonder about how much genetics will make a difference in wintering bees. Clearly, northern-bred queens are going to be better survivors in Alaska over time, but getting to that point will take a while, and will require the placement of dozens of queens every summer, tracking their wintering success, and selecting from the best... all the while trying to maintain productivity and disposition at levels that work for Alaskan beekeepers.

I am the first to admit that I have not been good at wintering my bees. For all sorts of reasons, I run into challenges in the late summer that prevents me from preparing my bees properly for winter. I debated long and hard this spring whether to even get bees this year... thinking that if I was going to fail to take care of my bees later in the summer, that it was a waste for me to keep bees... until I was ready to be really serious about it.

I've decided to be really serious about it. I have had some great successes in the past making and raising queens. I am indebted to several amazing beekeepers and queen breeders, including Caroline Yelle at Pope Canyon Queens, Adam Finkelstein and Kelly Rausch at VP Bees, Ray Southwell and Matt Moore, and of course, none of this would be possible without the help and friendship of Sarah McElrea at Sarah's Alaska Honey.

I decided to start the blog because I've thought about writing a book in the past, and instead of diving in and writing start to finish, I thought I could get my thoughts down in a blog, share my knowledge, and come up with a framework for a book.

I think the conventional wisdom about keeping bees in Alaska is changing. I think it is becoming a year-round endeavor. What is different is that the year starts in the middle of the summer, and preparation for that year takes nine months.

I'll have more soon!