One of my goals this year was to take it easy, dial things back, and remember why I started beekeeping.
2021 was a crazy year of growth within my business and apiary. My goal getting into beekeeping in 2019 was to connect more with nature and to use that time to focus on my mental health and wellbeing. My passion for helping the bees where I can and not being able to say no, eventually led me to burnout before my busy candle season even started. Going into the 2022 beekeeping season I kept this top of mind.
Spring 2022 I was lucky enough to find 9 of my 10 hives had overwintered and survived! I was so thankful for this as I was very new to learning about hive removals and managing my own apiary. Unfortunately, I found lots of beekeeping friends had much higher losses. I reached out to one of my mentors and they thankfully took 5 hives off of my plate.
2022 was a quiet season for bee removals across the board. I only did one cut out and handful of swarm calls. This allowed me more time to focus on my own business, attend markets and meet people that have been supporting me.
I was happy to wrap up the 2022 season with 10 hives. As I sit cozy on my couch I hope the bees are cozy inside of their hives, and that my success of winter survival rates continue to be in my favour.