Always fed an organic diet, always laying organic eggs
Lacey
Golden Laced Wyandote, lays light brown eggs, rose comb, mild mannered
Buffy
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Buff Brahma, lays brown eggs, pea comb, the biggest but most laid back girl
Dalt-hen
Delaware, lays dark brown eggs, single comb, weirdest behavior of all the girls
Cleo
Easter Egger, lays pale blue eggs, pea comb, more solid girl than her “sister” Patra
Nugget
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Mille Fleur D’uccle, lays tiny white eggs, single comb, 1/2 the size/2x the attitude
Patra
Easter Egger, lays olive green eggs, pea comb, the most outgoing girl in the coop
Ziggy
Golden Campine, lays small white eggs, single comb, is the hyper girl in the coop
Black Bitty
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Black Sexlink, lays brown eggs, single comb, is the coop matriarch, bossy
Biggie
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Black Australorp, lays light brown/peachy eggs, single comb, our chattiest girl
Bee hives are made up of three distinct types of bees...the queen, the workers, and the drones. The queen is the only female in a hive that reproduces. She mates only at one point in her life, and then can produce thousands of larvae.
Did you know that the worker bees, the ones you see out and about gathering pollen from flowers, the ones that can sting you, are ALL girls?!? For that reason, the vast majority of the larvae produced within the hive are female.
The third type of bee found within a hive are drones. These are the boys. Not near as many of these are produced, and while it might seem they’re basically useless, they actually serve a major purpose...if they are able to mate with a new queen, they each provide much-needed diversity in a hive’s genetic pool. They help cool a hive in hot weather, but are kicked out of the hive once temperatures start getting colder!
We’ve chosen Saskatraz bees to begin our apiaries (bee hives). Saskatraz bees originated in Saskatchewan Canada. They were selected for their high honey production, good overwintering ability, mild temperament (they’re normally very gentle to work with), tracheal mite resistance, and varroa mite resistance. Over a decade ago, we had a couple of Italian bee hives, and we, along with beekeepers across the country, suffered from unknown high mortality rates. Therefore, as we jumped into beekeeping once again, we were eager to find bees that might be hardier. Our research led us to the Saskatraz variety.
We plan on beginning with 3 hives, but have enough equipment for 5 hives. We hope these beauties love our new lavender field. Be (🐝) on the look out for pictures of our new girls getting acquainted with our new lavender later in the summer!