Most of what you'll find on this site is the polished gear-guide version of beekeeping. This series is the messy version.
We split a few hives off Dad's yard this spring, and we're documenting the whole season in the open: dates, weather, what we saw on each frame, what we got wrong, what we'd do differently next time. If you're starting your own hives in Cache Valley, you'll see exactly what shows up in ours.
Posts in this series
First Season 2026: Picking Up the Hives
The kickoff entry for our 2026 Cache Valley season, what we're running, where the bees came from, and what we plan to document week by week.
Read the entry →First Season 2026: Settling In the Two Hives
Pickup night, the truck-bed run up to Weston, second brood boxes on day one, and a Saturday peek that confirmed both hives were already drawing comb.
Read the entry →First Season 2026: Two More Hives, All Four on a Pallet
Picked up two more hives from Dad's, set all four on bee pallets so they can ride to California next winter, and dropped second deeps on the new colonies.
Read the entry →First Season 2026: One Hive Looks Queenless — Moving Over a Frame of Eggs
Quick mid-May check of two of the four hives — one looks queenless, no eggs or larvae, so I moved a frame of fresh eggs over from a strong colony.
Read the entry →