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Paradise in the Pines - Apiary and Honey Sales, 3858 W French Road, Saint Johns, MI (2026)

08/03/2026

People often think a beehive is just a peaceful, happy little city, but the truth is it’s a fast-paced, high-stakes environment where the colony’s survival comes first.
It’s not "drama" like we have—it’s just business. If a bee isn't pulling her weight or if something threatens the hive, the girls don't mess around.

Here is how they keep things running:
🐝The "Police" Force: Only the queen should be laying eggs. If a worker bee starts laying her own, the other bees will hunt those eggs down and remove them. Sometimes they even go after the worker herself to set her straight!

🐝The Queen's Power Struggle : When it’s time for a new queen to take over, she doesn't wait for a vote. She goes on a mission to find any rivals and take them out. In this colony, there’s only room for one queen.

🐝No Slackers Allowed: You might think a bee could just take a nap whenever she wants, but not in this hive! If a worker bee is found "sleeping" on the job too much, the other bees will actually grab her and nudge or "notch" her to get her moving again. Everyone has a job to do, and the colony doesn't have time for loafers.

🐝The Big Drone Kick-out: Come fall, the drones (the boys) are essentially dead weight. They don’t forage or defend the hive, so when food gets tight, the workers get tough. They bite them, drag them out, and lock the doors. It’s hard to watch, but it’s how the colony saves their winter stores.

🐝Cleaning House: If the bees spot brood that’s sick or infested with mites, they’ll uncap the cell and pull it out immediately. It’s called "hygienic behavior," and it’s one of the smartest ways they keep the whole colony healthy.

🐝The Queen’s Retirement: The queen runs the show through her pheromones, which act like a signal to the whole hive that she’s healthy and in charge. But when those signals start to fade, the workers know it immediately. They can sense when she’s getting old or "sick," and they don’t hesitate to start "supersedure"—they’ll begin raising a new queen to take her place so the colony doesn't skip a beat.
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It might look harsh to us, but it’s all about the greater good. My Bee Haven bees are a fascinating, hardworking bunch—and they definitely don’t let anyone slide!

07/19/2026

What the heck do the bees do with all of Water?

While water isn't an ingredient in honey, it is absolutely essential to the process of managing the hive.

Here is how:
🐝Cooling the Hive: When it gets hot, the bees bring water back to the hive and spread it over the brood combs. Other bees stand there and fan their wings, creating an air-conditioning effect. This keeps the hive from overheating, which is critical for the brood.

🐝Thinning Food: Sometimes stored honey gets too thick or crystallizes. The bees will mix it with water to thin it out so it is easier to feed to the larvae.
Bee Haven 2026
🐝Staying Hydrated: Just like any living thing, the bees need to drink to stay healthy, especially when they are working hard.

When I see them busy at the water source, I know the colony is working hard to keep things steady inside.

07/07/2026

My girls keeping themselves busy.♥️

07/06/2026

My bees working at MI Lavender Patch Farms.🐝

06/30/2026

What are Africanized bees?
let's chat about these hotheads for a minute!

You’ve probably heard the term “killer bees” before. It’s a pretty dramatic nickname, but the reality is a bit more complicated.
Understanding how they operate is just good hive management and keeps everyone safe.

What the heck are they?
Africanized bees are a hybrid between African honey bees and European honey bees. They were brought to Brazil in the 1950s to try and boost honey production, but some swarms escaped and started moving north, finally crossing into the southern U.S. around 1990.

Why Are They So Feared?
A lot of people think their venom is worse, but that's a myth. Their venom is exactly the same as a standard European honey bee. The difference is purely their attitude. They are incredibly defensive.
If you stir them up, they will:
-Defend their hives in massive numbers.
-Chase you down for up to a quarter-mile if they think you're a threat.
-Swarm constantly and completely pack up and leave the hive (absconding) at the slightest bit of stress.

Where Do They Live?
They are big fans of warm climates, so their spread usually slows way down or stops when they hit colder northern regions.
Right now, you mainly find them established in southern U.S. states like Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, and California, as well as Mexico and Central America.

How Do They Differ From Our European Bees?
-They have a hair-trigger reaction to any disturbance around the hive.
-They swarm and abscond way more frequently.
-They start foraging earlier in the morning and stay closer to home.
-They can be highly productive, but they usually form smaller colonies.

Can They Be Managed?
Yes, but it takes an experienced hand and zero shortcuts. Beekeepers who operate in Africanized territory have to adapt by wearing full gear every time, limiting how long they keep hives open, and constantly requeening with certified, gentle European queens to keep the hive's temperament down.

The Big Risk: Open Mating
This is a crucial point for anyone trying to raise queens in those areas. If you let your virgin queens open mate naturally where Africanized bees are present, they are highly likely to mate with Africanized drones.

When that happens, your next generation turns into an aggressive, unmanageable hive that swarms constantly and poses a major risk to your neighbors or livestock. If you live in an area where these hotheads are known to reside, you really want to avoid open mating altogether. Instead, look at using completely isolated mating yards, instrumentally inseminated queens, or buying marked queens from a trusted, gentle source.

What to Do If You Encounter a Hot Swarm or Hive:
-Do not swat at them and do not panic.
-Run in a straight line immediately and cover your face.
-Get inside a house or a closed vehicle as fast as you can.
-Never try to handle or remove a wild colony like this yourself—call a professional pest control service or an experienced local removal specialist.
Bee Haven 2026
At the end of the day, Africanized bees are tough survivors with unique genetics. They deserve a lot of respect and very careful management.
Staying educated and keeping our hives gentle is how we keep this hobby safe and fun for everyone.

06/22/2026

Let's talk about the queen’s mating flight.

Once a virgin queen hatches, she doesn’t just immediately take to the skies. She spends her first 5 to 7 days lounging around the hive while her body finishes developing. During this time, her exoskeleton hardens, her flight muscles strengthen, and she starts pumping out her signature queen pheromones (essentially her own high-end perfume). Once she's ready, she has a strict two-week window to get the job done.

🐝The Perfect Flight Conditions
It turns out queen bees are incredibly picky about the weather. If she's going to leave the safety of the hive, the conditions have to be pristine:
-Bright and sunny
-Warm temperatures (at least 70° F)
-Calm skies with little to no wind
-Peak afternoon hours (specifically between 1 PM and 4 PM)

If it’s too chilly, rainy, or windy, she will absolutely postpone the trip and try again tomorrow.
This isn't just diva behavior; it's survival. She needs optimal flying weather, and more importantly, she needs to ensure the local bachelor pool is actually out and about. Drone congregation areas are only buzzing during those peak, warm afternoon hours.

🐝The Flight Itself
When the moment is right, the queen makes her move, and the details are pretty wild:
-She flies solo. No royal entourage, no worker bee bodyguards.
-She handles this trip entirely on her own.
-She travels up to 2 to 3 miles away from home to locate a Drone Congregation Area (DCA). Traveling this far is a clever evolutionary trick to avoid inbreeding with her own brothers.
She will mate in mid-air with anywhere from 12 to 20 drones from neighbouring colonies.

Once she heads back to the hive with a successful flight under her belt, she is set for life and will never mate again. (If conditions weren't perfect, she may have to repeat her mating flight the next day.)

From that single afternoon, she secures enough genetic material to lay up to 2,000 eggs a day (during spring and summer) for the rest of her lifespan.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch...
While the queen is flying solo, the worker bees aren't just sitting around. Before her flight, the workers pamper her, constantly feeding and grooming her while she matures. On the big day, they clear the runway and guard the hive entrance to ensure she exits safely.
Bee Haven 2026
When she returns, they immediately inspect her, sniffing for those specific chemical changes that signal a successfully mated queen. If she passes the vibe check, they officially accept her as their ultimate leader and begin catering to her every need nonstop. She might wear the crown, but the workers are the ones running the logistics.

06/21/2026

Did you know honey bees are incredibly sensitive to certain scents and how we move around them?
They have powerful senses, and things we don’t even think twice about can put them on alert.

Here are a few things bees react to and why:

🐝 Bananas: Before anyone hops on me about this one—I know the banana thing is a touchy topic in the beekeeping world! But it is actually backed by solid science. The compound that gives bananas their scent is chemically identical to the primary alarm pheromone a honey bee releases when she stings. If you have that scent on your hands or bring a peel near an open hive, their antennae pick it up instantly and can throw the colony into defence mode.

🐝 Breath: Bees are sensitive to strong odors and the carbon dioxide we exhale. Breathing heavily directly into the hive—especially after eating garlic, onions, or drinking alcohol—will put them on guard.

🐝 Sweat & Stress: Strong body odor and sweat smell like a potential predator to bees. Beyond normal sweat, your body actually releases distinct chemical signals when you are nervous or anxious (like cortisol and adrenaline breakdown products). Bees are highly attuned to these mammalian "stress scents" and can interpret them as a direct threat to the yard.

🐝 Jittery Movements: While bees don't read human emotions, they absolutely react to physical signs of nervousness. Quick, jerky movements, bumping the hive, and swatting at them will make them defensive. Moving slowly, calmly, and with confidence goes a long way.

🐝 Perfumes and Lotions: Avoid wearing heavily scented products when working your hives. Strong artificial scents can confuse, irritate, or attract them for the wrong reasons.

Always approach your hive calmly, stay mindful of scents, and move with a purpose. When you bring a calm presence to the apiary, the ladies usually respond in kind.

Andreu, B., Carcaud, J., Sandoz, J.C., et al. (2021). "Identification of two odorant receptors tuned to alarm pheromone compounds in the honey bee Apis mellifera." Communications Biology, 4(1), 1-13

06/09/2026

Can the Queen Bee Fly?

Mating Flights
A few days after emerging from her queen cell, a virgin queen will take one or more mating flights. She travels to a Drone Congregation Area (DCA), which may be several kilometres from the hive and hundreds of feet in the air.

There, she mates with multiple drones while in flight. Once mating is complete, she returns to the hive and stores the s***m in a specialized organ called the s***matheca. This stored s***m can be used to fertilize eggs for the remainder of her life, which may be several years.

After Mating
Once a queen is successfully mated, she typically never mates again. In most cases, she will spend the rest of her life inside the hive laying eggs (She can lay up to 2000 a day during spring and summer.) and producing pheromones that help regulate colony activities.

There is one notable exception: swarming.
If the colony decides to swarm, the workers will often reduce the amount of food they provide to the queen. This causes her to lose weight, making it possible for her to fly with the swarm to a new location.

What About Her Wings?
The queen has two pairs of wings, just like worker bees. However, once she becomes a productive laying queen, her long abdomen and increased body weight make sustained flight difficult. As a young virgin queen she is light enough to fly well, but after mating and beginning egg production, her role changes dramatically.
Bee Haven 2026
In a Nutshell
Yes, queen bees can fly.
They fly as virgin queens during mating flights and may fly again if they leave the hive with a swarm. Outside of those situations, most queens spend their lives inside the colony doing what they do best—laying eggs and ensuring the continued success of the hive.

One of the amazing things about honey bees is that every bee has a job. The queen's job is not to fly around the countryside. Her job is to build the future of the colony, one egg at a time.

Pictures do not belong to Bee Haven. They are for educational purposes only.

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06/09/2026

Can you tell the difference between honey bees fanning and honey bees Nasonoving? 🐝

These are actually TWO completely different behaviours — even though at first glance they can look very similar!

One of the best things you can do as a beekeeper is simply sit quietly by your hive with a coffee and observe.
Honestly… you can learn SO much just by watching them. Honey bees are incredible teachers if we slow down long enough to pay attention.
And trust me… bees are GRAND at yoga poses🐝

🐝Nasonoving (using the Nasonov gland):
This is a communication behaviour.
Worker bees raise their abdomen WAY up into the air, expose the Nasonov gland at the tip of their abdomen, and fan their wings to spread pheromones through the air.
The butt is usually pointed straight upward… almost like a little bee handstand
They are basically saying:
“Come here!”
“This is home!”
“Over here!”
You will often see this:
-At the hive entrance during a swarm
-After a hive has been disturbed
-When foragers are returning home
-When bees are orientating to a new hive location
-Around a queen or swarm cluster
Sometimes bees will even Nasonov out in the field around a good food or water source to help guide other bees in.

🐝Fanning:
Fanning is mainly about ventilation and temperature control.
During fanning, the bee’s abdomen is usually more curved downward while they rapidly beat their wings to move air through the hive.
This behaviour helps:
-Cool the hive during hot weather
-Reduce moisture and humidity
-Help evaporate nectar into honey
-Maintain proper brood temperature
And brood temperature is VERY important. If the hive gets too hot, brood can become damaged or die.

Bees may also fan to help remove stale air, strong odours, smoke, or excess moisture from the colony.
Bee Haven 2026
So yes… both behaviours involve wing movement…
BUT the body posture is usually very different once you learn what to look for.

🐝 Nasonoving = butt up high + communication
🐝 Fanning = curved downward + ventilation

06/03/2026

Thursday, June 4th, 3-7 pm
Join us in Dimondale for our first
farmer's market of the season

Paradise in the Pines - Apiary and Honey Sales

08/03/2026

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