Country Fields Beekeeping Supplies

Did you know royal jelly isn’t the only secret to making a queen bee?

👑🐝According to a fascinating study published in the journal Nature, the physical "royal crib" is just as vital. Specialized young worker bees, dubbed "queen cell builders," chemically alter and enrich the wax used for queen cells, making it softer, less dense, and better suited to regulate heat and moisture. When researchers tried raising queen larvae on royal jelly inside standard worker cells, they didn't thrive as well. It turns out a queen needs a specialized home, not just a specialized diet! 🍯✨

📖 Source: Nature ("Queen cell architecture shapes honey bee queen development," June 2026).

Peak summer means a peak population, which means space is at a premium inside the hive. Part of your July routine should include keeping a close eye on overcrowding to prevent late-season swarms. Adding fresh honey supers just in time gives them the room they need to keep storing that liquid gold. 👑💛

How Honey Bees Fight a Heat Dome 🌡️🐝
As a massive heat dome parks itself over the central United States, the Midwest, Ontario, and Quebec this week, we are all cranking up the air conditioning. But out in the apiary, honey bees are running a high-stakes climate control system of their own.

When ambient temperatures climb past 38°C (100°F), a beehive faces a critical threat: if the wax combs melt, the brood (baby bees) and the colony's entire winter food supply could be lost.

To prevent this, the hive shifts into emergency cooling mode using three incredible survival tactics:

Water Foraging: Instead of gathering nectar, thousands of field bees pivot exclusively to hauling water. They bring it back to the hive and deposit droplets along the edges of the wax combs.

Evaporative Cooling: On hot afternoons, specialized "fanning bees" line up at the hive entrance and beat their wings in perfect unison. This circulates air over the water droplets, creating a highly effective, natural swamp-cooler effect that keeps the internal nursery at a steady, safe 35°C (95°F).

Bearding: When the heat inside gets to be too much, thousands of bees will temporarily evacuate the hive and cluster on the outside walls in a giant, hanging mass. Think of it as the ultimate porch hang—by leaving the building, they reduce the ambient body heat inside the colony.

How you can help our local pollinators this weekend:
With temperatures breaking records and overnight relief in short supply, our neighborhood insects are working overtime. You can give them a massive helping hand by putting out a shallow bee waterer.

Just fill a birdbath or container with fresh water, and pack it with floating corks, pebbles, or glass marbles. This gives the bees a safe, dry landing pad so they can drink and carry water back to the hive without risk of drowning.

Stay cool out there, everyone! 💧🌻

Why is that beehive growing a beard? 🧔🐝

If you pass by a local beehive on a hot, humid summer evening, you might see thousands of bees clustered in a massive clump right outside their front door. Don't panic—they aren't swarming! This fascinating phenomenon is called "bearding."

Just like us, honey bees feel the heat. When the temperature and humidity spike, the inside of the hive gets stifling. To cool things down, a large portion of the colony steps outside to reduce body heat within the hive.

Meanwhile, a dedicated team stays inside, lining up to fan their wings rapidly. This incredible behavior circulates fresh air, acting like a natural, homemade air conditioning system to keep the brood cool and protect their hard-earned honey.

So next time you see a bearded hive, just know the girls are taking a well-deserved breather on the front porch!

Forming crystals? Don't throw it out! 🛑

One of the most common myths about honey is that when it turns solid, white, and grainy, it has "gone bad" or had sugar added to it. The truth is exactly the opposite: crystallization is the ultimate sign of pure, unpasteurized raw honey.

Honey is a super-saturated solution of natural sugars (fructose and glucose) and water. Over time, the glucose naturally separates from the water and forms tiny crystals.

If you prefer your honey smooth and liquid, fixing it is incredibly easy:

Place your jar into a bowl of warm water (around 40°C or 105°F).

Let it sit for 10-15 minutes to gently dissolve the crystals.

Avoid the microwave, as high heat destroys the beneficial raw enzymes!

🐝 Big news for Halifax! 🌸
Did you know HRM is officially a certified Bee City? To celebrate, Pollinator Week 2026 is kicking off from June 22 to June 28, and there are some incredible community events lined up across the municipality!

This year’s theme is "Life on a Leaf," focusing on the native host plants that support our essential local insects throughout their entire lifecycle. 🐛✨
Whether you want to learn about urban ecology or get your hands dirty, there is something for everyone:
June 22: Kickoff at the Halifax Public Gardens 🌷
June 24: "Defending Trees, Defending Bees" panel at the Central Library 📚
June 26: "Building for Butterflies" hands-on naturalisation workshop at Flinn Park 🦋 (Registration required)
June 27: Shoreline plant medicine walk at First Lake 🌾 (Registration required)
June 28: Interactive Bee Walk & Bioblitz at Fort Needham Memorial Park 🐝 (Registration required)

Let’s help native perennials thrive and build a more resilient ecosystem right here in our own backyards. 🍁

👉 Head over to the Halifax municipal website or email [email protected] to register for the workshops and view the full schedule!

It takes a hive... Did you know a single honey bee produces only about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her entire lifetime? It takes a massive, coordinated team effort to fill a single jar. Talk about ultimate teamwork! 🍯🐝

We have No Power at the store. Unfortunately, the Country Fields Retail Store will be closed until power is restored. NS Power outage map indicates 2pm restoration, but hoping that will be sooner.

This is a pretty interesting read. I hope you'll take the time. 🐝😊🐝😊

What Honeybees Can Teach Us About Leadership, Adaptability, and Working Together Prairie Sweetheart Honey founder Rebecca Krowelski says honeybee colonies have mastered skills many organizations still struggle with, from collaborative

SOLD - We have a limited quantity of extra Saskatraz Queens available, scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Arrival will be confirmed via email. Order online or call the shop!🐝

Saskatraz Queens - Olivarez - June 3rd Californian Olivarez Sakatraz Queens. The Saskatraz bee breed was developed by Albert Robertson at Meadow Ridge Enterprises in Saskatoon, SK. Essentially a hybrid of Carniolan, Buckfast and Russian breeds and selected for high honey production and disease resistance, including varroa mite tolerance/...