The apiary began in 2024 with two hives sourced from local bees, and placed in an idyllic location on the ranch with plenty of southern sun and a nearby water source (Bragg Creek itself).

The hives quickly established themselves, and despite being their first year, we were able to add some honey supers. (Our toddler helped with the painting.)

As part of early summer hive management we extracted a couple of frames using the crush-and-strain method. Later in the fall we had more frames of capped honey and used a centrifugal extractor to speed up the process and retain the drawn comb.

We also took the opportunity to plant a quarter-acre field of yellow sweet clover from seed with the hopes that it will take root and become self-sustaining. Yellow sweet clover is so nectar-rich that this small field could provide as much as 25-55 kg of honey alone! 

(Read more about this amazing plant from local beekeer Ron Miksha https://badbeekeepingblog.com/2016/05/31/sweet-sweet-clover-part-1/).

We have three goals for the apiary during the 2025 season. First and foremost, depending on how well the hives survive the winter we will be increasing the apiary electric-fenced area by double or quadruple. This allows room for additional hives from splits as well as any swarms we catch. 

Accordingly, our second goal is to build two swarm traps and try our luck luring in the clever scout bees.

Finally, we would like to nurture our yellow sweet clover to properly take root and hopefully get a decent first-year nectar flow from them, reseeding areas as necessary to ensure full coverage. Typically their second year is the biggest nectar producing year.