Ada’s Sweet Bees

Ada’s Sweet Bees | Newbury, Vermont Bees in different stages of development When you watch honey bees moving between flowers or returning to their hive with pollen, you're seeing only a small portion of their lives. Long before a honey bee takes her first flight, she undergoes a fascinating transformation inside the colony. Honey bees develop through four distinct stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Although every honey bee follows these stages, the time required for development differs...

The 2026 beekeeping season is beginning to wind down here in Newbury, Vermont, but our work for the year is not finished. This has been a busy year at the apiary. We expanded our number of colonies, introduced new genetics, tried new equipment and management approaches, followed the nectar flow more closely, harvested honey throughout the summer, worked through swarms and new queens, participated in monthly inspections and sampling, monitored colony health, and learned along the way. With...

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....