Griesemer Beekeeping LLC

10/17/2026

🐝🍂 FALL BEEKEEPER BASICS: What Happens to the Drones?

Have you ever wondered what happens to the male honeybees when fall arrives? 🤔

Let’s talk about drones!

🐝 What is a drone?
Drones are the male honeybees in a colony. Their primary purpose is to mate with a queen bee.

🍯 Why do drones disappear in the fall?
As temperatures drop and flowers stop blooming, the colony begins preparing for winter. Food becomes a precious resource, and the worker bees shift their priorities toward survival.

When drones are no longer needed for mating, worker bees may stop feeding them and push them out of the hive. This process is called drone eviction.

❄️ Why does this matter?
The colony needs to conserve its food stores to keep the queen and worker bees alive through the cold winter months.

It’s one of nature’s ways of helping the colony focus on survival!

🍂 Fall is a busy season inside the hive, even when things begin to slow down outside.

🐝 Stay tuned for our next Fall Beekeeper Basics post as we explore how honeybees survive the winter!

Healthy Bees ~ Healthy Tomorrow!

10/15/2026

🍅🌱 The Final Tomato Seed Harvest of 2026! 🌱🍅

That’s a wrap on our Big Momma tomato seed harvest! 🍅 As the growing season comes to an end, we’ve collected the last of our tomatoes for seed production.

Growing tomatoes for seed has been one of our projects in the high tunnel this year. From transplanting our seedlings in the spring to harvesting ripe tomatoes and saving their seeds, it’s been a season full of growth, learning, and plenty of tomatoes!

Now the seed-saving process continues. The seeds and pulp go through fermentation before being washed and dried, preparing the seeds for storage until it’s time to plant again. 🌱

It’s exciting to think that these tiny seeds will help us start the growing cycle all over again next spring!

🍂 The garden may be winding down, but the next growing season starts with the seeds we save today!

🍅🌱

10/12/2026

10/09/2026

🐝 Beekeeping Basics Series: What Happens Inside the Hive — Queen Cells 👑🐝

One of the most fascinating things to find during a hive inspection is a queen cell.

Queen cells are special cells built by worker bees when the colony needs to raise a new queen. They are larger than regular brood cells and are often shaped like a peanut hanging from the comb.

Bees may create queen cells for several reasons:

👑 Swarm preparation — the colony prepares to split and create a new queen
👑 Replacing an old or failing queen — the colony raises a replacement
👑 Emergency response — if the queen is suddenly lost, bees may raise a new one

A new queen develops differently because she is fed a special diet of royal jelly throughout her development.

During inspections, beekeepers pay close attention to queen cells because they provide important clues about what is happening inside the colony.

The hive is constantly changing, and the bees are always working together to keep the colony moving forward.

Stay tuned for more in our Beekeeping Basics Series as we continue exploring the amazing world of honeybees! 🐝

10/07/2026

🥶🌱 Maybe Our Last Harvest of the Season! 🍂

With temperatures dipping down to around 40 degrees, we decided it was time to pick what might be our last harvest of the season.

We brought in a little bit of everything—peppers, cucumbers, and a second harvest of green beans! 🌶️🥒🫘

It’s hard to believe we’re already at the end of another growing season. After months of planting, growing, harvesting, and collecting seeds, the cooler temperatures are definitely reminding us that fall is here. 🍂

It looks like this weekend may be the time to officially start fall cleanup and begin putting the garden to bed for the season.

One last harvest before we trade our garden baskets for rakes! 🍂🌱💚

10/05/2026

🍂🌱 The Seasons Are Changing! 🌱🍂

The temperatures are getting colder, and it’s definitely starting to feel like fall has arrived around the farm. The growing season is winding down, but there’s still work to be done!

We’re continuing to harvest seeds for our seed production projects, including our Fatman beans and Big Momma tomatoes. 🫘🍅 We’re still harvesting some of the remaining tomatoes and collecting their seeds as they mature.

Our blue butterfly peas are getting closer too! 💙 The pods are drying and will soon be ready for us to begin harvesting those seeds.

It’s amazing to see the season coming full circle—from planting seeds in the spring to collecting the next generation of seeds in the fall. 🌱➡️🌱

The days may be getting shorter and colder, but we’re still making the most of these final weeks in the garden! 🍂💚

10/02/2026

🐝 Beekeeping Basics Series: What Happens Inside the Hive — Honeybee Eggs 🥚🐝

Every bee in the colony begins life as a tiny egg!

The queen bee lays eggs inside the honeycomb cells. She carefully places one egg in each cell, and within a few days the egg hatches into a larva.

During an inspection, beekeepers look for eggs because they are a sign that the queen is active and the colony is continuing to grow.

The honeybee life cycle includes:

🥚 Egg — about 3 days
🐛 Larva — fed and cared for by nurse bees
🐝 Pupa — develops inside a capped cell
🐝 Adult bee — emerges ready to join the colony

Finding eggs during an inspection is always exciting because it shows the colony is raising the next generation!

Next in our Beekeeping Basics Series: we’ll talk about queen cells and how bees create new queens. 👑

09/30/2026

🌱 Looks Like Nature Beat Us to This One! 🦝🍂

We found this cantaloupe with half of it missing! We must have missed it ripening, but apparently some Wildlife didn’t! 😆

Producing cantaloupe for seed production this year has definitely been a challenge. Between the weather and the wildlife, we’ve had our share of surprises along the way. 🍈🌦️🦌

Even with the challenges, it’s been a great learning experience. Growing for seed is a little different than simply growing for the dinner table—you have to get the fruit fully mature and keep it protected long enough for those seeds to develop.

We’ll call this one a reminder that we’re not the only ones watching the cantaloupes! 😂🍈

🌱🍈

09/28/2026

🍂🌱 Wrapping Up the Growing Season 🌱🍂

The seasons are changing, and things are definitely starting to wind down around the farm. But there’s still plenty happening!

We’re continuing to harvest some of the remaining produce, including peppers and beans, while also spending time collecting seeds for our seed production projects. 🌶️🫘🌱

It’s always a little bittersweet to see the growing season come to an end. After months of planting, growing, harvesting, and learning, we’re now watching the gardens transition into fall. 🍂

There are still a few more harvests to come, seeds to collect, and plenty of cleanup to do before we officially put the gardens to bed.

As summer fades into fall, we’re already looking ahead to next season and the new projects and possibilities that come with it. 🌱💚

🍂🌱

09/25/2026

🐝 Beekeeping Basics Series: What Happens Inside the Hive — Pollen Storage 🌼

When you see a bee covered in colorful pollen, that bee is bringing home one of the hive’s most valuable resources!

Bees collect pollen from flowers and carry it back to the hive in special structures on their legs called pollen baskets (corbiculae).

Inside the hive, worker bees store pollen in comb cells near the brood area where it can be easily accessed.

Pollen provides:
🌼 Protein for developing bees
🐝 Nutrients needed by nurse bees
🥚 Resources needed to raise new generations

During inspections, beekeepers often look for bands of stored pollen around the brood area — a good sign that the colony has resources available.

Every flower visit helps support the health and future of the colony!

Next in our Beekeeping Basics Series: we’ll explore eggs and the beginning of a honeybee’s life cycle. 🐝