My maple trees are in full bloom right now and it looks like this has been going on for a few days as they are droping pedels. I do see the bees working them and at least bringing back pollen.

I recently harvested honey from my hives at my son’s house in King George VA. The honey has a distinct mint flavor that tends to linger. Does anyone know the cause and how to avoid it?

I have two colonies that appear to have lost their queens. The first hive has laying workers as the cap brood appears to be drones and the eggs are attached to the side of the cell. There appears to be a single capped queen cell. The second has no eggs or brood to be found and bees are continuously fanning. Both hives are strong with approximately 7 frames or more of bees. I by chance ordered a queen from woodcamp farms that should be in tomorrow along with two packages. Any thoughts. March 21, 2022.

I inspected my hive today and noticed that I have two queen cells on the between the two brood boxes. I am a bit surprised. This hive has been struggling with mites. In august I treated with apiguard and the mites went from 3/300 to 30/300. I started treating with OA vapor every 4 days. The hive has a small problem with deformed wing virus; I see about a dozen bees every day in the grass in front of the hive. I have maybe 50% coverage in the upper box . They haven't completely capped the cells. Any suggestions?