December 2025

in your Central Oregon Apiary

It’s finally here. The moderate freezes have come and gone, along with the emergency late night covering of the tomatoes. Other than last minute cleanups, the garden is tucked away. The skis and boards are being tuned and the winter clothing aired out. What’s that line from “the night before Christmas” about “They’re all tucked away for the long winter’s night”

Speaking of being tucked away, your bees shouldn’t need much of anything this month. You’ve prepped them well for winter, health, population, food, insulation, cover, mouse guard all correct and in place. I still like to go out on warmer days to watch as they take cleansing flights and occasionally look for water.

This month is when I question myself. Did I really do as well as I thought? That new queen rearing technique I tried, did it work. That new mite treatment I tried, didn’t really work. Was I able to sustain a good life/beekeeping balance? Those new queens I used midsummer really did well with winter prep and honey production. Moving a couple of individual hives into a single bee yard, really did save quite a bit of time. I really did enjoy demoing colonies to classroom groups. I didn’t get much enjoyment from short term relocations and they were a lot of work. While the season is still relatively fresh in our minds, do a frank self-examination. Make sure to include both positives and negatives, as well as personal satisfaction. Unless we carefully examine the season, we won’t be able to improve for next year.

The other activity I like to do this time of year, is making crafts, primarily from products from the bees. Most of my family know they’ll get some honey, and another crafty items, usually bee related.

Finally, December is a great time to get together with family, friends and neighbors. My understanding is one of the best indicators of happiness is having active connections with others. Let’s get happy!

Happy Christmas and New Year,

Allen