Harmony Hollow Apiaries

Ag Valuation with Honeybees

Agricultural Valuation – aka “Ag Exemption” – with Honey Bees

Introduction to Beekeeping Classes

Do you own 5 to 20 acres? Are you interested in saving hundreds, maybe even thousands on your property taxes each year (especially by preventing rollback taxes!) ? Are you a land developer that has properties that need to maintain Ag Valuation until building can begin – years down the road?

If so, having honey bees can help you qualify. We (Rex Smith – Harmony Hollow Apiaries and Laura Winters of Birds and the Bees Apiary) perform agriculture maintenance with our hives to land owners for a reasonable management fee. We do everything to manage and maintain the bees, and once qualified, you reap the rewards that ag-valuation provides for your property for the use of your land.

Have our Honey Bee hives to qualify for an Ag Valuation and leave the Beekeeping to Harmony Hollow Apiary. Call Rex at 469-251-2BEE (2233) for more information and pricing.

April 2026 – Contact us about having bees placed in Summer of 2026 – to continue (or start) your ag history for early 2026 ag placement. New commitment requests will be quoted and filled as livestock are available.

Requests in March through Summer will be filled as available. State LATE deadline for 1-D-1 paperwork to your appraisal district is April 30 2026.

Texas law, effective January 1, 2012, made it possible for beekeeping to qualify for an Agricultural Valuation (commonly called “ag exemption” – see below) on property taxes. This is covered in the Tax Code under Chapter 23, Subchapter D, Sect. 23.51 (1) and (2).

An Agriculture Exemption is not actually an Exemption but rather a Special Valuation. If a portion or all of a property is deemed eligible to receive an Agricultural Valuation, that property will receive a Production Value along with its Market Value. The tax savings that a property receives depends on the current Market Value of the property and what type of Ag Valuation you are requesting. For example, Native Pasture areas may have a lower Ag valuation than Dry Crop areas and generally both are considerably lower than the market value that the taxes would normally be based on. That is dependent on county. (Some counties do not differentiate they type of agriculture activity, and have 1 rate for ag no matter the qualifying activity. Other counties have different rates for different activities).

There are several key phrases and requirements to this law. Sect. 23.51 (1) covers the definition of “qualified open-space land”. Specifics state land that has an established agricultural use history for five of the preceding seven years. Record keeping and documentation is critical.

Registration and permitting with Texas Apiary Inspection Service (TAIS) helps establish this history. Wording of the law states agricultural use to the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area. Each local appraisal district sets their own standards as the accepted degree of intensity. Most appraisal districts use a minimum of six colonies (beehives) as a standard. That is the accepted definition of an apiary from Texas bee law under the Agriculture Code, Title 6, subtitle A, Chapter 131, Sect. 131.001 (2). (Which has just changed as of the 2023 Texas Legislative session- as they removed the number of hives definition).

Size of qualifying acreage is not less than 5 or more than 20 acres. Remember the definition of agriculture use. Losing an acre to a homestead exemption has to be accounted for on acreage. (check with your appraisal district to be sure, though -as some counties allow the full acreage without removing an acre for the home)

Also, realize the landowner does not have to own the bees (except Rockwall County). You may hire the maintenance of bees from a beekeeper who owns the hives. Again, keep accurate and complete records. The wording of the law states “the use of land to raise or keep bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible products having a commercial value.”

Lastly, it is important to stress the fact that each local appraisal district can set their own standards and requirements for the beekeeping valuation. Please contact your local appraisal district for guidance and minimum requirements. Some counties may want to see a copy of a bee maintenance agreement or land access agreement as part of your documentation before coming to evaluate your property for ag valuation. Some require a special report be submitted annually. Most county appraisal districts now have this information available on the county appraisal district website.

Benefits include:

Professional management and maintenance of beehives on your property
Annual Beekeeper Registration through the Texas Apiary Inspection Service (TAIS)
Pollination for your property
Contributing to the welfare of the honeybees
Annual Report listing harvested (and non-harvested if applicable) tangible products with commercial value.
Qualifying requirements for Harmony Hollow Apiary management include:

The site must be suitable for bees and provide the necessary elements for bees to thrive. A complimentary site visit will be scheduled for prospective clients. A Honeybee Management Plan is included – and lists expectations of flowering plants that the landowner should seed or plant – for the benefit of honeybees and ALL other native pollinators.

Harmony Hollow Apiary must have unrestricted access to the location of the hives at all times. (For locked properties – I can/will provide a lock to add to your chain of locks on a gate – or you can provide me with a gate code)

A 2-wheel drive vehicle must be able to access the area where the hives are located and park no further than 10 yards from the hives’ location.

Harmony Hollow Apiary reserves the rights of ownership to the bees, the equipment, and the products of the hives.

Honeybee Management Plan

Pollinator Plants for Texas – I HIGHLY recommend having a food-plot on your land for producing food for human consumption. This helps and is in the spirit of the law allowing bees as a livestock in Texas as the pollinators for those plants.

Apiary Registration: As of 1 Sept 2023, Texas Apiary Inspection Service will no longer process “Apiary Registrations” – that has been changed in the last legislative session to “Beekeeper Registration”. The property owner can register as “the beekeeper”, or the beekeeper (if hired) can register as “the beekeeper” for the property. I personally register annually – and can list your property under my registration. The appraisal district MAY have upcoming guidelines listing who THEY want to see listed (either property owner, or hired beekeeper). That registration is NO LONGER FREE. It is now $35 per year.

https://txbeeinspection.tamu.edu/

For areas where you OWN the hives – You may need to pay the TAIS their fee ( $10) for them to issue a “brand ID number” to you. (Otherwise – mark the hives or the apiary with an identifying name/contact info – which is perfectly acceptable to law enforcement or TAIS)

For hives that Harmony Hollow Owns – our ID number is marked on the equipment.

Your county appraisal district will have the 1-D-1 Application for you to fill out for ag use of your land. Note: Placement and management of hives on your land is NOT a guarantee that the appraisal district will approve ag valuation for your property, nor is it a guarantee or a promise that there will be a honey harvest in any given year.

We are based near the Dallas, Texas Metroplex. However, we cover a large portion of North and East Texas. Contact us to reserve bees for your property.

Registered with Texas Apiary Inspection Service, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University. Copy of past transport permits for Harmony Hollow Apiary are available here: https://www.bohemianutopia.com/permits/ (Note – as of Sept 1 2023 – There are no longer intrastate transport permits issued by TAIS).

I also recommend putting up a sign to warn people about the dangers of agribusiness (farm animals – which includes bees – which may have unpredictable behavior). Harmony Hollow has signs for locations where we own the bees – and signs are available at a cost of $20ea for locations where the property owner owns the bees)

Update – December 2024

Harmony Hollow and Birds and the Bees Apiary also offer services to build and maintain areas of food production – as Texas Property Tax Code also mentions that:

“Agricultural use” includes but is not limited to the following activities: …

… “producing crops for human food” …

“The term also includes the use of land to raise or keep bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible products having a commercial value, provided that the land used is not less than 5 or more than 20 acres.”

Consultation and/or installation:

Wildflowers to seed the property
Trees that benefit both pollinators as well as humans for food
Garden Plots for “Producing crops for human food”

Pollinator Plants for Texas

Sometimes – it’s necessary to have a fence surrounding the hives – to protect the bees from other livestock ( cattle, horses, goats, sheep, etc) – or from humans. Click this link to a page with some sample fencing that my customers have provided – along with a sample of an effort that did not work so well:

Fencing the Bees

North Texas County Ag Valuation Requirements

Varroa Mite Management in 2025

Scientific Beekeeping – Varroa

Newsletters

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 – where did the honey go?

In March – we had a decent flow of nectar for a few weeks – but it seems to be a trickle since then. Honeybee hives across Denton, Collin, Hunt, Kaufman, Dallas, and Rockwall counties – for the most part – have shown disappointing amounts of honey and open nectar this last few months. I say “for the most part” because there are a scant couple of locations that have had some honey stored and capped after it was evaporated (or cured) to the consistency of honey.

That goes to show that beekeeping production is very much on a “micro-environment” level for individual ability to have enough forage to store. Overall, however, the region (specifically – the entire SE – non-coastal plains regions of the US have had low honey production as an overall theme this year.

Rex and Laura say that at least one major factor is available forage. Many areas outlying the DFW MetroMess are being turned into neighborhoods. Fields of flowers are being mowed while in full bloom of forage/flowers. HOWERVER – Even in areas where the bees DO have fields of flowers – the food also seems scarce this year. Why?

A search on line yielded this for environmental factors this spring: I personally feel that items #2, #3, and #4 are HUGE factors this year.

Low honey production across North Texas this spring boils down to a perfect storm of severe long-term agricultural drought, unseasonably high temperatures, and a resulting lack of nectar flow.

When weather conditions suppress the region’s usual spring flora, it directly impacts what the bees can bring back to the hive. The primary environmental factors that stalled production this spring include:

1. Intensified Agricultural Drought

The drought gripping North Texas began in August 2025 and intensified significantly through the winter and early spring of 2026. Topsoil and subsoil moisture levels across northern Texas dropped below the 10th percentile. Without adequate ground moisture, key spring forage plants—such as sweet clover, vetch, and regional wildflowers—either failed to bloom abundantly or lacked the resources to produce harvestable nectar.

2. High “Thirst of the Atmosphere” (Evaporative Demand)

Texas experienced its 7th warmest April on record, with temperatures averaging $5.0^\circ\text{F}$ above normal. This heat triggered a high Evaporative Demand Drought Index (EDDI). Essentially, the atmospheric demand for moisture was so high that it rapidly dried out the landscape. Even in areas that received spotty, near-normal rainfall, the high evaporative rate caused plants to withhold or cease nectar secretion entirely to conserve their own water.

3. Accelerated Winter Store Depletion

Unseasonably warm spikes during the late winter and early spring kept colonies highly active when they would normally be tightly clustered or semi-dormant. This increased flight activity meant worker bees were burning through their remaining winter honey stores at an accelerated rate looking for a nectar flow that hadn’t started yet. Instead of entering the spring with strong reserves and building an immediate surplus, many colonies had to rely heavily on supplemental feeding just to sustain brood rearing.

4. Delayed and Weakened Nectar Flows

Because a successful honey flow requires a delicate balance of timely rainfall followed by warm, humid days, the extreme dry-and-hot cycle completely disrupted the classic spring timeline. The early major flows—which beekeepers typically rely on by late April and May—were either short-lived or non-existent, forcing bees to consume what little they gathered just to maintain the colony’s daily nutritional needs.

This is long… and I hope you’re still here reading. All we can do – is all we can do. When there’s not enough food in nature, we (collectively) property owners and beekeepers may need to feed the bees. What can YOU – as a nature-enthusiast or property owner / host for bees – do to help?

STOP MOWING THE FLOWERS IN BLOOM

Really nothing more to add to that statement….

PLANT PLANTS THAT SUPPORT THE POLLINATORS

We have some favorites that are good food sources for the bees (and ALL pollinators) in North Texas. Remember, though – a garden bed of flowers is insufficient for feeding even a colony of bees. Fields and fields are what they need. It takes 2 MILLION flowers to produce a single pound of honey. Bees regular forage range is about 3 miles radius – or 18,000 Acres. Over-seed your fields (open space 1-D-1 Ag Valuation areas) with a rolling bloom of things that can feed the bees –

Plant Forage Plants once – that bloom and re-seed every year
Lowers supplemental feed costs (sugar, protein patties)
Healthier Colonies that are more resiliant

Low ground covers:

FrogFruit
Dutch White Clover
Crimson Red Clover
Creeping Thyme
Phlox

Taller flowers

Phacelia
Bee Balm / Horsemint / Monarda
Borage
Sweet / Field Clover (tall)
Buckwheat
Comfrey
Sunflower
Aster
Rosemary and Lavender

Shrubs / Trees

Vitex
Linden / Basswood
Mexican Buckeye
American Soapberry
Chinese Tallow
Mimosa
Button Bush (wet areas)
Privet / Ligustrum

Newsletter – June 2026

by Laura Winters – June 2026

Spring is wrapping up and we have been just as busy as the bees!!!!

While managing honeybee colonies on our locations for agricultural valuation for property owners, we are also mentoring and teaching classes at Owenwood Farm and Neighbor Space – with big thanks to Grow North Texas. ( www.BohemianUtopia.com/classes/ )

The spring season has included waxing frames, giving the colonies more space and adding boxes, preventative measures from unwanted pests, splitting the colonies to prevent swarming, and so much more!

Our spring honey harvest should start in about a month and it looks like this season will be a much smaller harvest than in years past.

We had a short nectar flow in March, and it’s been slim pickins’ for the bees since then – so we are going into summer feeding most hives

While maintaining colonies, we are starting to work on creating our own homemade salves, tinctures, and infused herbal oils.

We look forward to sharing our crafty goodies with you and keep you updated on their availability.

( Click photo for visual newsletter )

2026 – Mid-May Field Update

Texas weather is finicky. Some years we have a good nectar flow… and some years – we don’t. By early-May we have a good idea of how the year is going to look.

Laura and I have noticed MANY locations this year that the hives are dry as a bone inside – with absolutely no nectar being stored. While you may see flowers in nearby fields – that does NOT necessarily mean they have a viable food source. While all flowers will provide pollen (protein source to feed young larvae) – not all flowers will have nectar – which is the bees’ carbohydrate source – that is used for energy to fly, as well as to create royal jelly to feed to the queen, and to the newly hatched eggs/larvae. And excess nectar is dehydrated to be honey – and stored for times when there’s no natural forage.

What does this mean? It can be the product of several things…

Simply not enough nectar-producing flowers in their forage range
Bad timing for rain (it can take 3-4 days for nectar-producing plants to recover from a rain and thicken up their nectar secretions)
Heat – once we hit about 95 Deg F (35 C) – the nectar dries up in the plants
Viable flower fields get mowed too early.

Yes – we have encountered several fields that were BEAUTIFUL – with bees all over the flowers – that then get mowed while the good forage-blooms are still active. The food for the pollinators just got cut down. In one location – the field was mowed WHILE we were there working with the bees. It was heartbreaking to see this – and then having to answer the question later in the year of “When will we get some honey?” Well – in years like this – we’re starting to feed the bees syrup to make up for their lack of natural forage. When we’re feeding bees – there’s no honey to be taken.

What can you do? Support pollinators by planting pollinator-feeding plants. Trees often will have more nectar produced per tree, than an acre of wildflowers. PLANT TREES – IN ADDITION TO WILDFLOWER SEEDS!

Some trees that ALL the pollinators love are: Chinese Tallow (this is Texas’ #1 honey-producing plant – on the Texas coast and in deep East Texas) , Soapberry, Vitex, Mexican Buckeye, Privet, Holly Bushes/trees, Ligustrum. Areas where we ARE seeing nectar stores in the hives – tend to have bee-balm in bloom nearby (also known as horsemint or Monarda)

In the meantime – Laura and I are starting to mix a sugar/water blend to feed the bees, since nature isn’t providing what we need this spring.

March 2026 Newsletter

March 2026 Newsletter – Laura Winters

This March, Spring started early!!!

With warmer temperatures upon us, the honeybees are gearing up for reproduction. We are noticing our queen bees laying many more eggs, which means her worker bees are bringing in a significant amount of pollen. The pollen is deposited within the cells of the frame and then made into something called bee bread, also known as baby food for honey bees.

As we have been watching the plants takeoff, and some already in blossom, we are making our rounds to the bees to provide them with more space before their urge of swarming begins. On rainy days, we have been adding wax to brand new frames. This entails melting down wax and rolling it on to the frames.

As we are providing more space for the bees, we are giving them the freshly waxed frames. In some case, we have been replacing older hive bodies with newly painted yellow hive bodies that we assembled, primed, and painted over the winter. We know that the honey bees will enjoy their upgraded accommodations! Welcome to spring, honey bees!

Unfortunately a part of beekeeping is also dealing with colony losses. We are doing last checks and counts to put together our action plan for replacing the hives that perished in the freeze – and will start getting the replacement bees in place during April and May.

Rex an I are excited to also point out that we are offering Introduction to Beekeeping classes – Class information and payment links are at: https://www.BohemianUtopia.com/classes/ Dates are March 14, April 4, and May 2.

Beekeeping Podcasts

Here’s a list of the beekeeping related podcasts I enjoy listening to. My current podcast player of choice on my Android phone – is called PodBean. You can find these podcasts on multiple outlets, though. iTunes, PodBean, CastPlayer, Spotify, etc…

Kevin Inglin of Beekeeper’s Corner – is probably the longest-running podcast I have listened to. Kevin has been producing this podcast since April of 2010!

Beekeeping Today Podcast

Two Bees in a Podcast

Honeybee Obscura

GardenFork Radio

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 preserve them.

We’ve also ordered new frames and have been waxing the foundations by melting honeybee wax in a turkey roaster pan and rolling it onto each foundation with a sponge roller. This process helps the honeybees begin building on fresh frames right away.

In addition, we’ve started vegetable seeds indoors and started certain tree varieties by cuttings and seed – both to support our honeybees and for personal use. Shown in the picture are Mexican Buckeye saplings grown from seed.

While making rounds to different property yards we’ve been checking on our colonies. We’ve continued using the mountain camp method, which involves placing a sheet of newspaper over the frames and adding about two pounds of sugar on top. This provides an emergency food source in case the bees begin using their fall honey stores. In some cases we’re noticing colonies are consuming all of the sugar within about a two week period. We will continue providing the honeybees with mountain camp method until we start noticing more flowers in bloom to provide a natural food source for them.

Sign up for our “Introduction to Beekeeping” classes. These are a 3-1/2 hour class – with classroom time where we cover the bees, gear, protective equipment, and more – then we spend time inspecting the hives. Click here for more info.

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 profusely with fragrant pink blossoms in spring like a peach or redbud tree, and bees produce honey from the floral nectar.

If planting saplings into your fields or yard in North Texas where we have a heavy clay soil – amendments to the soil will be appreciated by your plant – to assist drainage. (They evolved in limestone soils – which tend to drain much better than our Blackland Prairie clay soils)

*****

Care:

Hardiness: Zones 7-9
Plant Form: Shrub or Tree
Plant Family: Sapindaceae
Lifespan: Perrenial
Exposure: Full sun / Partial Sun. Blooms are best in full sun
Season of Interest: Spring (Early / Mid / Late) ; Summer (Early / Mid / Late) ; Fall
Height: 8′ – 30′ (2m – 9m)
Spread: 12′ – 20′ (4m – 6m)
Maintenance: Low
Water Needs: Low (water deeply 1x-2x weekly til roots adjust to your soil)
Tolerance: Drought
Soil Type: Clay, Loam, Sand
Soil pH: Alkaline, Neutral
Soil Drainage: Well Drained
Characteristics: Fragrant, Showy Whiteish-Pink flowers,
Native: US Southwest, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma; Mexico
Attracts: Bees, Butterflies, Birds
*****

Seeds germinate and the radical and cotyledon emerge in approximately 3-7 days (My experience was closer to 3 days – with the seeds being in damp sand in a shallow container sitting on a 20-watt seed warming mat). After germination – at approximately 7 days – I placed each emerged seedling into a deep tree-pot for the root systems to develop fully.

From iNaturalist:

Ungnadia speciosa is a deciduous shrub or small tree (< 25 ft) that is often multi-trunked. The leaves (5–12 inches or 13–30 centimetres) are alternate and pinnately compound with 5 to 9 leaflets. The leaflets are long (3–5 inches or 7.6–12.7 centimetres), narrow, and pointed with slight serrations.

Fact Sources:
Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center
Native Plant Society of Texas
iNaturalist
Gardenia.net

North Texas County Agriculture Valuation Info

While state law codifies that acreages of 5-20 acres of open space can qualify for ag valuation with Honeybees, there are some caveats that give each county discretion to adjust other factors.

All:

Qualifying Acres are 5-acres to 20 acres.

Texas Tax Code: Subsection D states:

The term ( Agricultural Use) also includes the use of land to raise or keep bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible products having a commercial value, provided that the land used is not less than 5 or more than 20 acres.

We HIGHLY recommend that each qualifying plot of land using bees for ag valuation – have some sort of food plot that can be documented to satisfy the above requirement. Photos of food plots, gardens, fruiting trees and plants, etc. will help your appraisal district documentation. Use this as additional documentation – as North Texas may or may not have a honey harvest – depending on available forage for the bees.

Be sure to check at least annually to see if your county appraisal district has changed any requirements

Collin County

Collin CAD
5 Acres = 6 Hives. For each full 2.5 acres over 5, add 1 hive (12 hives total for 20 acres)
Annual Beekeeping Questionnaire Required to Appraisal District
Answers for Annual Questionnaire at this link
Time: Unlisted by appraisal district – presumed 12 months

Dallas County

Dallas County Appraisal District
Beekeeping qualifying References are highly unmentioned as of early 2025 website
5 Acres = 6 Hives. For each full 2.5 acres over 5, add 1 hive (12 hives total for 20 acres)
If bees are off property for a time that disqualifies ag – in a city limit – all ag 5-year history must be re-started. Outside of a city limit, 5 of the last 7 years of documented history qualifies
Time: Unlisted by appraisal district – presumed 12 months
YouTube Video – Instructions for 1-D-1 Paperwork for Dallas County

Denton County

Denton County Appraisal District
5 Acres = 6 Hives. For each full 2.5 acres over 5, add 1 hive (12 hives total for 20 acres)
Annual Beekeeping Questionnaire Required to Appraisal District
Time: Minimum of 7 months of the year

Hunt County

Hunt County Appraisal District
5 Acres to 12 Acres = 6 Hives. For each full 2 acres over 12, add 1 hive (10 hives total for 20 acres)
Time: Minimum of 7 months of the year

Kaufman County

Kaufman County Appraisal District
5 Acres = 6 Hives. For each full 2.5 acres over 5, add 1 hive (12 hives total for 20 acres)
Time: Minimum of 7 months of the year

Rockwall County

Rockwall County Appraisal District
5 Acres = 6 Hives. For each full 2.5 acres over 5, add 1 hive (12 hives total for 20 acres)
Landowner MUST be the owner of the honeybee livestock and equipment
Time: FULL 12 months of the year
TAIS Beekeeper listing documentation required (I maintain the listing for my clients – as TAIS charges $35/year for registering a beekeeper). A screenshot of the listing is provided to my clients.

Sources:

Texas Agriculture Code

Texas Tax Code

Pesticides – Death and destruction to bees

This week, in my personal back yard – I have experienced a fairly fast die-off of 5 colonies. These bees were here simply for the purposes of building them up to be strong, so they could be placed onto agriculture contracts.

Usually, I’ll give a build-up and background before I tell the meat of what’s in a story. Not this time. I contacted a friend whom I have worked with in the past who is in the pest-control industry – whom works for probably the largest company in America for pest control. I told him the symptoms I observed, and that is was across all 5 colonies in the same yard… and he had a quick diagnosis – that he feels 99% sure about.

Termidor ( with fipronil ). Termidor is a wide-spectrum target pest control that targets insects that groom each other. The powerful poison is intentionally NOT a “repellent” – so the insects get it on their bodies, and carry it home, to be groomed off of them. The grooming activity affects their groomers.. and it quickly is passed around to all the bees in the colony, including the retinue of bees caring for the queen.

Termidor is used as a pre-construction ground drench for new construction homes and buildings. While there are a LOT of new construction areas in North Texas, I don’t feel like that’s the case in the 3 mile radius around MY home. There are, however, a LOT of established neighborhoods that were built in the 1970’s,

Termidor is also used in standard household (and commercial buildings) – because of it’s transportability to the entire colony. If a neighbor within flight range has a pest (bee) problem – and the pest control operator uses Termidor – then the colony there dies… but SO DOES EVERY COLONY THAT HAS BEES THAT COME TO FORAGE ON THE LEFTOVER RESOURCES IN THAT TREATED COLONY! The same results happen if blooming plants (i.e. Crape Myrtles) are treated with insecticides while wanting to target mosquitoes or other “pests”. Fipronil / Termidor is an indiscriminate killer.

My buddy is 99% sure this is what happened. He has spoken with another beekeeper this year in a rural area that has new construction going in – and they experienced 3 colonies dying with a 21-day period after ground work started for new neighborhoods to be built.

—

Dead bees on the landing board

What I experienced….

When I wake – generally between 4am-5am, I’ll turn on the kitchen light to start the coffee maker. Usually, bees see the kitchen light, and fly from their woodenware hive bodies in my back yard – to the kitchen window to try to get in – thinking the light they see is the sun.

This week – there’s been an absence of that activity. After making this morning’s rounds to customer locations this morning with Laura, I decided to open up a couple of hives to see what’s going on “In the hive” in my own back yard.

Devastated. That’s all I can say on the matter.

All 5 colonies have a handful of dead bees on their landing-board. A hand-full of dead bees on the bottom boards inside the hive. Emerging brood that never made it out of their pupation cells, some previously emerged adult bees crawling around, bodies trembling / jerky – as if they had some neurological problem… No queens.

These 5 sets of woodenware. Boxes, frames, foundation, bottom boards, and lids – will all be put into the burn pit.

There’s a LOT of feelings and emotions I’m feeling today.

Following significant concerns about bee populations, the European Union and other countries have restricted or banned the use of fipronil in agriculture. The USA / EPA / USDA needs to follow suit.

September 2025 Newsletter

September 2025 – Newsletter:
(Laura Winters – Birds and the Bees Apiary)

Rex and I are still making 1st and 2nd rounds of Apiguard to our north-western clients (Denton county and western Collin County). While making our rounds to the colonies that have already been treated, we are removing shims and noticing increased laying pattern from the queens. Populations are increasing and getting geared up for Winter.

Propolis – Close up

We are also noticing an abundance of propolis being produced by the honeybees. Propolis is a “bee glue” that the bees produce from sap, resin, and other organic compounds. It is known as the hive’s immune system. This antimicrobial coating is spread throughout the entire colony but is especially noticeable at entrances and gaps and cracks to seal everything before cooler temperatures. As some beekeepers like to harvest this substance and produce medicinal tinctures from it, we are mindful to leave it for the honeybees for a healthy colony. The minimal amounts that we do harvest, we typically take small quantities in the spring time for human consumption and medicinal practices.

Goldenrod Flowers

While making rounds to colonies who have already been treated, we are giving supplemental feed to the ones that have little to no food from Summer dearth. Surprisingly, we have also been adding extra space to colonies who are bringing in extra nectar from the Fall flow. What is a Fall flow? A Fall flow is the late season period where strong nectar and pollen sourced flowers provide extra forage for honeybees and other pollinators. These flowers include goldenrod, asters, snow on the prairie, and more! The Fall flow isn’t in full swing yet, but we are noticing the stronger nectar sourced flowers blooming from early unexpected rainfalls. Depending on the duration of the flow and how heavy it is will depend on if we have a fall honey harvest. The darker Fall honey is typically a more robust flavored honey with more antioxidants than the typical Spring honey. However, our number one priority is leaving an abundance of honey for the colonies to have a successful Winter.

As the shift in season and temperatures occur more and more you’ll notice some changes if you’re watching your colonies from the outside. You’ll be noticing a bit less bearding and more foraging. It’ll look more “busy” and if you look closely you’ll see honeybee foragers flying home with pollen. . . And lots of it!! You’ll also notice one of the beautiful wonders of orientation flights. As the colony’s populations start increasing and picking up from dearth, you’ll see more and more orientation flights as it were Spring time. Orientation flights consist of female honeybees emerging from their colony for the first time. As they come out they fly in figure 8 patterns right outside the colony to familiarize and memorize what “home” looks like. Once the orientation flight is completed, they can begin their adventures of foraging!!

Harmony Hollow Apiaries

Categories

Archives

Ag Valuation with Honeybees

Introduction to Beekeeping Classes

Pesticides – Death and destruction to bees

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Share this:

1. Intensified Agricultural Drought

2. High “Thirst of the Atmosphere” (Evaporative Demand)

3. Accelerated Winter Store Depletion

4. Delayed and Weakened Nectar Flows

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Recent Posts

Tags