2026 Beekeeping Season Update

Swarms, Sweet Success, and the Start of Honey Harvest

There is something special about a Vermont summer. The fields are alive with blooming wildflowers, the air is filled with the sound of hardworking honey bees, and after months of preparation, the reward of another beekeeping season is finally beginning to arrive.

Here at Ada's Sweet Bees, the 2026 season has already been one to remember.

A Busy Spring

Like many beekeepers throughout New England, we experienced several swarms this spring. While seeing thousands of bees leave a hive can make any beekeeper's heart skip a beat, swarming is actually one of nature's greatest signs of success.

A swarm isn't a colony failing—it's a colony reproducing.

When a hive becomes strong and crowded, the bees raise a new queen while the old queen leaves with nearly half the colony to establish a new home. It's how honey bee colonies have survived and spread for thousands of years.

Although swarms can reduce a colony's honey production for the season, they also remind us just how healthy and productive our bees have become.

This year we were fortunate to capture some of those swarms and use them to continue expanding our apiary.

The Honey Flow Has Arrived

After a cool and sometimes unpredictable spring, Vermont's nectar flow finally arrived.

Watching the hive scales begin climbing each day is one of my favorite parts of the season. The bees have been taking advantage of blooming clovers, basswood, blackberry, raspberry, sumac, and countless wildflowers growing throughout the Connecticut River Valley.

Every warm, sunny afternoon means thousands of foragers leaving the hive with a single purpose—to bring home nectar.

Inside the hive, that nectar is transformed into the pure Vermont wildflower honey that so many of our customers look forward to each year.

Honey Harvest Is Underway

One of the most exciting milestones of the season has finally arrived—our first honey harvest.

Removing heavy frames capped with beautiful white wax never gets old. Every frame represents thousands of trips made by countless worker bees over many weeks.

Once the supers are brought inside, the real work begins.

The frames are uncapped, placed into the extractor, and spun until the golden honey flows from the comb. From there it is carefully strained to remove wax particles while preserving everything that makes raw honey special.

We never heat or heavily filter our honey.

Our goal has always been simple:

Provide honey exactly as the bees made it.

The Apiary Continues to Grow

This season has also been exciting because our apiary continues to expand.

Strong overwintered colonies, successful nucleus colonies, captured swarms, and new queens have all helped strengthen the bee yard.

Each inspection tells another chapter of the story. Healthy brood patterns, growing populations, and increasing honey stores are all signs that the colonies are thriving despite the challenges every beekeeper faces, including changing weather, mites, and the constant need to balance colony growth with honey production.

Every season teaches something new, and 2026 has certainly been no exception.

Looking Ahead

While the first harvest is exciting, the season is far from over.

With Vermont's summer nectar flow still underway and the fall goldenrod and aster bloom waiting just around the corner, there is still plenty of work ahead.

The coming weeks will be spent:

• Monitoring hive weights and nectar flow

• Continuing honey extraction

• Bottling this year's crop

• Managing mite levels after harvest

• Preparing colonies for another successful Vermont winter

Thank You

To everyone who has followed along, purchased honey, shared our posts, or simply stopped to ask questions about bees—thank you.

Your support allows us to continue sharing our passion for beekeeping while helping educate others about the incredible role honey bees play in our environment.

We look forward to sharing more of this season with you, including additional honey harvests, life inside the hive, and everything happening here at Louisiana on Pine Apiary.

From our family to yours, thank you for supporting local beekeeping.

Pollination with Purpose. Honey with Heart.