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Inked Girl Apiaries, 740 Convers Avenue, Zanesville, OH (2026)

06/16/2026

I'm thrilled to share some fantastic news! 🤗 I've embarked on an exciting journey to rear my own queens by taking my first queen grafting class. This move will allow Inked Girl to save a pretty penny by rearing our own queens. Additionally, the benefits of queen rearing will enable us to maximize honey production by eliminating the losses that occur when a hive queens itself naturally.

Grafting queen bees involves transferring 1-day-old honey bee larvae from worker cells to artificial queen cups. This process allows for selecting strong genetics from an original colony. To graft, gently brush nurse bees off the brood frame, identify a C-shaped larva under bright light, and carefully slide a grafting tool under it. Scoop up the larva with royal jelly and lower it into a queen cup. The queen bee lifecycle takes 16 days, requiring a strict schedule to prevent queen emergence in the wrong box.

Queen bee development timeline: Day 0 (grafting), Day 5 (cells capped), Day 10 (cells transferred to nucs), Day 11-12 (queens emerge), Day 16-21 (queens mate and lay eggs). Today is Day 9, and I am currently transporting her from her cell builder box to a nuc in our Zanesville apiary so I can keep a close eye on her next stages. I'll keep you posted on the progress from here! With great hope, our transport will unfold seamlessly and gently, allowing her to thrive and flourish as we await her emergence and mating flight; hopefully, we'll have eggs by the end of the month.

05/19/2026

Have you heard of honey bee bearding before?

Honey bee bearding is a totally normal thing where tons of bees bunch up outside the hive entrance, forming a giant fuzzy beard. Bees hang out on the front porch of the hive for a couple of pretty cool reasons. Apparently, they need to keep the nursery at a balmy 94°F, and on super hot or humid days, having all their friends inside would turn the hive into a sweaty sauna. By stepping outside, they're like 'Hey, it's a bit warm in there, mind if we chill outside?' and they make room for some airflow. Many of the bearding bees will even point themselves in the same direction and start flapping their wings like crazy to push fresh air in or evaporate water to cool things down - basically acting like the hive's air conditioning unit. A strong and healthy hive with a huge population might even have bees partying outside at night because the dance floor is too crowded inside. And during a super hot summer day when there's not much nectar going around, all the foragers stay inside sipping honey and avoiding the heat, which increases the congestion and need for some serious airflow. In this colony's case, they just needed a little extra room, so we just added a honey super to the top.

05/12/2026

We were out in our apiaries doing some hive maintenance today, checking for signs the hive is preparing to swarm, so we can prevent the loss of the colony. May is "swarm season" for honeybees in Ohio which is a natural, non-aggressive behavior where a queen takes half the hive to find a new home, often appearing as a temporary, large buzzing cloud. As hives get overcrowded in spring, they split. While daunting, these swarms are docile and merely looking for a new home. Swarming bees are unlikely to sting because they have no hive or larvae to defend. If you see a swarm, keep your distance and contacting a local beekeeper to relocate them.

04/06/2026

Increased honey bee flight during and after inspection is normal, usually caused by agitation from smoke, vibrations, and disruption of foragers. During this time, the bees may appear louder or fly around more as they respond to the broken hive structure, with increased activity often lasting for hours as they settle down and reorient.

I took advantage of one hive's behavior after such an inspection to give you an idea of what it feels like to be inside this honey bee activity. We did not use smoke during this inspection, as I prefer not to unless absolutely necessary. No one was being aggressive; they were just figuring things out after we disrupted their normal daily activities.

I find being with the bees to be a very calming experience.

04/02/2026

Spring inspection on the Mahle Farm. This is my favorite time of year! 🐝🌸💛

Address

740 Convers Avenue
Zanesville, OH
43701

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