https://www.hopeandharvestmn.com/about-bees/Recent content in About bees on Hope and Harvest LLCHugoen-usMon, 06 Apr 2026 12:00:00 -0500https://www.hopeandharvestmn.com/about-bees/queen_development/Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:00:00 -0500https://www.hopeandharvestmn.com/about-bees/queen_development/<p>Even for beekeepers who don&rsquo;t choose to intentionally raise queens its often important to understand the timeline of queen development. If you have strong and healthy hives and are making splits, you can let your bees raise their own queen. Its also common that if you lose your queen due to swarming, an accident on your behalf, or some other natural cause the bees will replace her on their own. Knowing the timeline of that process is critical to being able to understand whether things are on track for success or if you need to intervene.</p>https://www.hopeandharvestmn.com/about-bees/bee-castes/Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:00:00 -0500https://www.hopeandharvestmn.com/about-bees/bee-castes/<p>A <strong>honeybee colony</strong> is a single family: one mother queen and thousands of her offspring, mostly <strong>workers</strong>, plus <strong>drones</strong> at certain times of year. These groups are often referred to as <strong>castes</strong>. When working with bees and inspecting colonies its important to understand each <strong>caste</strong>, the role it plays in the colony, and what determines the <strong>caste</strong> of an individual bee.</p> <p><img src="https://www.hopeandharvestmn.com/images/bee_castes.png" alt="Comparison of bee castes"></p> <h2 id="queen">Queen</h2> <p>Starting with the most important the <strong>queen</strong>. She has the only role fulfilled by a singular bee in the entire colony. A colony with the proper conditions can often replace a failing or lost queen on their own. However, when that fails a colony without a <strong>queen</strong> is doomed to die out.</p>https://www.hopeandharvestmn.com/about-bees/parts-of-a-hive/Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:00:00 -0500https://www.hopeandharvestmn.com/about-bees/parts-of-a-hive/<p>Like many beekeepers in the U.S., we use <strong>Langstroth</strong> equipment: rectangular boxes with <strong>removable frames</strong>. One of the common challenges for new beekeepers trying to figure out how to get started is understanding the terminology used when talking about parts of a hive. This is key both in understanding what equipment you need, and understanding directions people give when talking about how to work with your bees.</p> <p>Here you can find the terminology we commonly use when talking about our hives and the parts that make them up. Although these terms work for us, we acknowledge there are many synonyms and slightly different terms used by various suppliers and content creators.</p>