Homestead in the Hood

06/24/2026

Mite washin’ the Harbo Yard.

06/22/2026

Genetic testing for mite resistance.

We are testing for mite resistance in our experimental “Harbo yard” (named after USDA bee researcher John Harbo. Which we hope will one day dominate the mating areas and flood the genetic gene pool with incredible genetics so that one day, our queens will be able to open-mate in the wild and pick up those genetics and be mite resistant. But there are only 60 allele combinations that expressed varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH) so not all bees carry it. A score of 0 means there is no mite expression and a 4 means the colony carries all the alleles for mite resistance.

But I’m also testing and recording a few more things as an Urban Beekeeper who has unknown apiaries and sketchy neighbor beekeepers who don’t take care of their bees, creating mite pressure and mite bombs on our hives. So I’m testing for Harbo scores every month I can as the season allows, as well as taking mite washes on each colony to assess the amount of mites “walking in the front door.”

1) as mite pressure increases (June-August) does a high scoring VSH colony’s score decrease and then recover once pressure is lowered again?

2) Can a low scoring colony INCREASE their score as mite pressure in the apiary is decreased over time?

4) Do high scoring colonies scores dip down and then recover back to normal during high mite pressure areas, or do they stay consistent as they power through the challenge.

5) Just how quickly does a colony that scores a 4 turn to absolute trash as they requeen themselves and those daughters open-mate? One generation? Two generations? Never?

Maybe THIS should be my Master’s project for the Colorado State Beekeeper’s Master Certification Program?

Follow along as we get super nerdy with it.

06/19/2026

Ever seen a queen bee laying an egg? This lady was going to town, showing off for our hive tours last weekend!

06/18/2026

05/10/2026

Happy Swarmer’s Day. *ahem* I mean… Mother’s Day.

05/06/2026

It’s like that student who didn’t come to class all year turning up on the day of finals with all their assignments expecting to pass.

But you know what? We’ll take it.

Colorado has been going through a historic drought and the bees have been feeling it.

Everything here bloomed super early and the bees were bringing back a little nectar. But since the first week of April, that little bump in nectar is gone and our girls have nothing else coming into the hives. So we’ve been forced to feed our colonies just to keep them alive.

Then the western slope fruit got hit with a frost and there’s reports of total crop loss. What was maybe starting to bloom or bud here in Denver isn’t gonna now for a while either. So while this moisture is FANTASTIC it’s gonna set back the nectar flow yet again. But hopefully not for long.

Water is life. Not just to us humans, but for the earth as well. Without it, we and the bees go dry and hungry.

05/04/2026

7 years into this beekeeping journey.

May 4th is special to us. Not only because we love Star Wars, but because it’s the day I bought Sarah her first bee hive. And two weeks later, I decided this was gonna be my full-time job and doing the bee thing was how we were gonna be able to quit both our jobs and spend every day together.