Meredith May's Blog

My childhood friend Anita had a swarm move into this vase on her front porch and didn’t know what to do so she called me. I offered to fetch them, but instead, she put live bees in her car and DELIVERED. (A few escaped, but she pulled over, all badass, and wrangled them back in.) […]

It’s getting haaaaht out there, and the bees could use a refreshing beverage. But a simple water dish won’t do … oh NO. Bees need a floatie – something to stand on while they drink so they don’t tumble into the drink. Like this mini-pond in our San Francisco community garden in Potrero Hill. You […]

Beekeepers wait for spring like kids wait for Christmas, and this time the wait was longer than usual in California. Finally this week the rain let up and it was time to see what had transpired over winter in our San Francisco hives. Aaron and I were pleased with what we found. Healthy colonies, queens […]

This new machine makes my heart go pitter-pat. It’s the Italian-made Lega 28-frame radial extractor – so intelligently designed, the only honey spinner I could find that GOES IN REVERSE! The motor is underneath, so it doesn’t get sticky with honey, and the basin is convex, so it pours down through a down-spout that is […]

Early sales are now open for The Honey Bus, with delivery by April 2. It’s the story of my beekeeping childhood in Big Sur, where the wisdom of my grandfather and his honeybees gave me the strength to overcome a broken home. “Captivating and surprising…. If you’ve ever been stung by a bee you will […]

The nursery is filling up in my backyard hive, thanks to this gal. Look for the bit of red paint on her back to identify the Queen Bee. Watch her deposit eggs into honeycomb cells … and the worker bees wriggle with joy.

Opened my hives today and there was a huge dance party going on. Now that Fogust is behind us and the sun finally reappeared in San Francisco, the bees are in ecstasy. I caught one bee with yellow pollen on her back legs, dancing to alert her hive mates to the source of her bounty: … Continue reading Honeybee Boogie

Robert, a Sonoma winemaker with an awesome tiki lounge in his SF backyard, heard some buzzing and noticed a large swarm was living high in a neighbor’s tree. He called my beekeeper friend Aaron, who unfortunately was on a big deadline at work, so Aaron called me. I had a stirring spoon in one hand … Continue reading Catching My First Swarm

I have beekeeper envy of my friend Earl’s bee yard in Port Costa. He has thirty-plus hives of happy, gentle bees that have acres and acres of unmolested meadows to draw from. Over Memorial Day Weekend, my other beekeeper pal Aaron and I helped Earl inspect his hives. First Earl schooled us on the proper … Continue reading Pimp My Apiary

Over winter, I leave the hive alone. The colony is smaller, the queen slows her egg-laying, and I don’t want to open the hive and break the propolis seals that help keep the hive warm in the chilly season. It’s always scary to open it back up again once the sun returns – sometimes the … Continue reading Sugar Shake