Archives

Mexican Buckeye Tree ( Ungnadia speciosa )

Mexican Buckeye trees are great native Texas (and Southwest portions of North America) pollinator-supporting trees. These trees are early-blooming, with a soft pink bloom and is a nectar and pollen source for the bees, butterflies, moths, and more.

While they are not in the true buckeye family – their seed pods look similar. The Mexican […]

August 2026 Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Sept 26 – Bryan-College Station – Brazos Valley Bee School Oct 24 – Ft Worth – DFW ABC ( Area Beekeeper Conference) Questions? Please email us at HarmonyHollowBees@gmail.com or visit our website or social media accounts. Or call at 469-251-2BEE (2233) https://www.BohemianUtopia.com Harmony Hollow Apiary PO Box 852912 – Richardson, TX 75085 […]

What happened to the honey?

Spring 2026 has turned out to have a slim prospect for a honey harvest. As we touch to the Summer Solstice – usually we are readying equipment for extracting honey. We have had moisture this spring… and it’s been very warm as well – yet we have yet to touch triple-digits in North Texas. So […]

January 2026 Newsletter

January 2026 – Newsletter (Laura Winters – Birds and the Bees Apiary)

Over the past month and a half, my business partner Rex and I have been busy preparing for the upcoming season.

We’ve assembled new hive equipment, including medium supers and deep boxes, then applied a coat of primer and paint to protect and […]

Pollinator Plant Spotlight – Mexican Buckeye

The Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) is a Texas-native, deciduous ornamental shrub or small tree (8–12 ft, up to 30 ft) with distinctive 3-lobed,, reddish-brown seed capsules containing poisonous, black, shiny seeds. It features fragrant spring whiteish-pink flowers, yellow fall color, and high drought tolerance, thriving in limestone soils, full sun, or partial shade.

It blooms […]

August 2025 Newsletter

Laura and I have made rounds, now that hot temperatures are here – to add beetle traps to each colony. The high humidity this spring / early summer has made the hives a favorable place for small hive beetles (SHB) to lay their eggs. The larvae from the beetles consume proteins from pollen, as well […]

Propagating Pollinator Plants

This year I *really* noticed the Western Soapberry trees in the North Texas (North of Dallas / Ft Worth MetroMess) area during their bloom, and the pollinators all over the trees while in bloom. I suspect this was a 2nd bloom for the year. My time really noticing them was from the end of May […]

Earth Day 2025 – Rooster Home and Hardware

The Harmony Hollow Apiary bees in an observation hive will be at Rooster Home and Hardware on Saturday April 19th in their celebration of Earth Day 2025. Come sample honey, see the bees, and maybe spot the queen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[…]

Effects of sublethal doses of glyphosate on honeybee navigation

I thought I had posted this link to research – however I’m not finding it at the moment – so I will post it again – in light of this winters’ reported massive honeybee losses by commercial beekeepers. (as noted in my last post). While the symptoms and possible causes are being investigated – I […]

Urgent: Nationwide Bee Losses in Winter of 2024-2025 Varroa

2-7-2025 10pm

If you have not heard – over the last month – as many beekeepers prepare to send bees to California for Almond pollination – it’s being found that the normal approximate annual attrition rate of honeybee colonies of 40% – is this year – being seen in the range of 50%-80% and in […]