The cold spells that are continuing to roll in along with the super high winds have necessitated a review and adjustment to our start schedule. Late frosts have indeed posed challenges on valley orchard stone fruit blooms but the bosque will begin to offer sweet pea, willow, wood rose, globe mallow, Russian olive and pasture blooms.  We will be conducting first graft, this Sunday- April 28th…close to 3 weeks later than we normally start.

We have been tested over the past 8 years every spring….anticipating starting and then learning the hard way that starting too early stresses the bees out immensely and adversely affects success so we wait….This season we are also starting out with less than we anticipated in hive numbers but those that did make it look superb. It is with this initial bloom that our bees are beginning to build up and rear drones. And for this season, as always, we will share what we can while also focusing on rebuilding our own numbers in order to follow the cycle again next year. This process is not only time consuming, but also requires patience, on us as stewards highly anticipating and exited for the season to get rolling, and for nature- to allow her to unfurl her pollen laden and nectar scented breezes which bring the bees nourishment and sustenance.

Anticipated first graft is now scheduled April 28th.
Virgin queens will be available starting May 10th.

First rounds of mated queens are used to fill our nuc orders.  Subsequent rounds are then available for purchase.
Right now, mated queen availability is open for early July-early September.

For Breeder Queen information- contact us diretly.
Limited availability summer 2013

If you have placed an order with us and have been invoiced, and made your deposit, your reservation is confirmed. If you have ordered and not recieved an invoice, then you can anticipate receiving one once we know better just how many splits we can get started with our available hives. Once we are sure that our bees can accomodate your resquest, then we will invoice.

We will make contact with reservation holders when it is time to schedule pick up…in late May/early June.
For more information, please email us at ziaqueenbees@hotmail.com or call 505/929-8080

…..we are a very busy family with hectic schedules so please anticipate up to a week turn around time for return correspondence.

Thanks,
M&M-ZQB

We actually had thunder snow the other evening, which was tres cool to watch. Mark and I were returning from the valley after checking on our 3 year old breeders- and boy are we pleased with them. I will post pics soon because they were oh so lovely, great brood patterns and drones emerging….so we will start grafting April 10th!

This weekend, the Taos County Economic Development Corporation will be holding their annual Rancher & Producers Forum highlighting acequia and diversified farming and ranching developments and programs. They will have tours of their mobile matanza unit and also workshops on a variety of themes. Also included is a market and informational booths and a tour of their beautiful certified community kitchen which will offer some yummy foods for attendees.

I’ll be conducting an overview of beekeeping in northern NM and at high altitudes from 3:30-5pm on Saturday April 5th at this event. I am indeed looking forward to it.

Gas stipends are provided on a first come first serve basis, so no excuses….come up to Taos for the fresh high desert air, and perhaps we’ll get a little thunder snow storm to really kick in the beginning of spring!

More info at www.tcedc.org  and also on PDF -Spring 2013 Rancher-Producer Spring Market Program (flyer link)

Hoping for a bountiful spring bloom….

MMK

Eight years ago, when I convinced my partner Mark to come back to New Mexico with me, we didn’t anticipate the momentum with which we would be careening around blind corners. Neither of us has a business background and so it was with utter necessity that we looked to learn from qualified trainers and teachers. We are indeed still learning but I can declare that my initial and repeated interactions with WESST- a non-profit dedicated to providing much needed business skills training to budding entrepreneurs, has been positive and impactful.

Roseanna Perea and Bette Bradbury are indeed angels! And I thank them del fundo de mi corazon for sharing their expertise and their committment to struggling businesses owners. They have been so kind to include me on their website as a client success story.

I wouldn’t dare call myself a success, but an aspiring one! And as I age and learn, I realize just how fascinating the prospect of success is- as it would affect my family, my self- esteem, and my hopeful ambitions to better serve bee stewards and our community at large. I truly value WESST and their staff for their hard work in helping me, and my small farm, create a space and place for promoting our much needed and beloved pollinators!

http://www.wesst.org/client/melanie-kirby

Thank you WESST! Thank you Bette & Roseanna! Without you, I would still be figuring out what the heck to do with myself!

MMK- ZQB

In our region, March is notorious for warming up so nicely, duping everyone- plantitas, animalitos and humanoids. And then, as the Rockies begin to melt, the cold air descends down into our valleys,  bringing late frosts and extreme temperature fluctuations.

The  difference between the warming, sunny days and the crisp, pinon smoke laden, frosty nights poses sincere adapatibility challenges for all. Bees will experience some days of such warmth that they will be out taking cleansing flights and begin sniffing around for crumbs- so to speak

This is a good time to have a good water source nearby for bees. Check their weight, if they feel light then anticipate offering them some supplemental food (whether that be moving their combs of clean honey closer to their “nest (beware of sharing honey between colonies if from deadouts with disease issues),” or bee tea (a homemade nectar-like tea that includes herbs )-see Supplemental Bee Feed post. Offering at the right time is critical- their internal clock and digestion faculties are on a seasonal calendar of their own that we as stewards must decipher.

We are braving the season humbly…anticipating Mother Nature’s curve balls; which will indeed come without warning.

We will post up pics as we get started this season. This middle of March day, Mark will be out going through our girls in the valley and assessing which are hungry and what other needs they may have. If he comes across any that are small, he will reduce their space so that they can regulate the temp swings a little better as the season commences. Once the bloom hits, they can then be given more space to expand, on their terms.

The weather is a changing…..

MMK

More info at:

http://www.farmtotablenm.org/fts/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2013-conference-program-detail.pdf

http://www.farmtotablenm.org/fts/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2013-conference-program-detail.pdf

So- We are closing the reservations list for starter nuclei orders. Once we get started with the season we can better determine if our bees can share more splits. If they can, we will! And we’ll post it on our blog and the area bee club listserves. This we won’t know until May.

However, we are taking reservations for mated queens with availability starting in mid June-September. $40 + shipping (marking included free of charge to help with tracking longevity!)

We will have virgin queenbees available starting latter half of April. $20/each + shipping

AND…we are willing to share some of our Breeding Companions this season and will know in April what we can share.

Thanks for your continued support….

We pray for more snow, a good spring and health for everyone!

Call for entries to interested artists enraptured with pollinators.

*see flyer for details on event and contact info for submitting entries*

Colony Consciousness:

Working Together to Preserve, Protect & Promote

Our Pollinators

is the theme of this year’s W.A.S. Conference and it is coming to the historic and world famous La Fonda on the Plaza hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico from October 16th-19th, 2013.

  For more info, visit http://ucanr.edu/sites/was2/.

As  President of  WAS for this year, I am working with a great team to put on a unique and diverse conference. As we solidify our agenda, I’ll be sure to post updates with our confirmed speakers and topics. So far what I can share is that there will also be  the Bee Buzz Social, two full days of awesome presentations & break-out sessions, a banquet, a kids session and an art exhibit featuring the beautiful works of local Santa Fe artist Kathryn Alexander which a percentage of the proceeds will benefit area pollinator programs and projects. A Call for entries is forthcoming. 

 AND, on Saturday the 19th of October, we will be offering a tour up “The High Road to Taos”  starting in Nambe and winding through the canyons of juniper speckled formations with a stop at El Santurario de Chimayo (holy shrine), up to our bee farm in Truchas at 8300′ feet elevation- a real island in the sky-, over to Les Crowder’s For the Love of Bees top bar and pollinator garden and concluding with a stop (or two) at the local wineries and tasting rooms in the Dixon and Embudo valley!

Everyone is invited to The City Different for this exciting event! To start your tour of New Mexico- visit http://nmtourism.org/ and http://santafe.org/

To check out the world famous and historic hotel and conference venue, visit www.lafondasantafe.com They have been conducting extensive renovations on their over 200 year old hotel. They are ahead of schedule and renovations will be complete come August! The “Old World Charm” is inviting.

MMK

Kat Nesbit of Bliss Honeybee (and John Jacob of Old Sol)  have put together a most wonderful conference occuring this late July in Forest Grove, Oregon.

NM and CO beekeepers will be respresenting the high deserts  and alpine meadows of the southern Rocky Mountains! Both Mark and I, members from the Rocky Mountain Survivor Queenbee Cooperative, and Les Crowder- top bar master, will be attending and sharing!

We are looking forward to visiting Oregon, getting to meet other like-minded beekeepers and enthusiasts and willing and ready to work together to enhance the lives and husbandry of our winged angels of agriculture- the bees!!!

More info on event and link to register at:

http://www.blisshoneybees.org/events.html

For more info visit www.nmbeekeepers.org