🐝 HIVE LAUNCH July 2026: To Boldly Pollinate
Not responsible for unsolicited bee puns. Or responsible readers.
A Buzz Bros™ production straight from the hive.
Greetings, fellow pollinators. Buzzwell reporting from Hive Headquarters. After reviewing this month's nectar logs, pollen manifests, and approximately 47 unsolicited complaints filed by Buzzloaf, I'm pleased to report that the apiary remains fully operational. Colonies are expanding. New queens have taken their places. Honey is flowing. The humans continue to do acceptable work under close bee supervision.
In scientific terms... July has been absolute pollen-powered chaos.
Engage…
Buzzloaf's Official Announcement
I stopped by Rod's Towing & Repair in Putney, VT to inspect the honey inventory.
By "inspect," I mean I stared at it for a while.
Everything appears to be in excellent condition.
So if you're in the neighborhood, swing by Rod's and pick up a jar of Putney Ridge Raw Honey. It tastes much better than engine oil.
Trust me... I checked.
This Month at Putney Ridge Raw Honey
If June was about preparing for the season ahead, July was all about momentum.
The apiary has been buzzing from sunrise to sunset as healthy colonies continued building, gathering nectar, raising brood, and preparing for the months ahead. Every inspection brought something new, from expanding colonies and developing queens to honey harvests and a few unexpected surprises.
One of the biggest accomplishments this month was our continued hive expansion through colony splits. Strong colonies were divided to create new hives, giving young queens an opportunity to establish thriving colonies of their own. It's one of the best ways to grow a healthy apiary while helping reduce the natural urge to swarm.
A special thank you goes to Jade Christensen, Chief Beekeeping Officer :-), whose experience and steady leadership were instrumental throughout the splitting process. Creating successful splits requires planning, patience, and a careful eye, and Jade was a tremendous help every step of the way. Plus, it was really hot that day and the Apiary Air Traffic Controller (AKA Erik) couldn’t keep up (lots of whining).
Meanwhile, Brenna, our Deputy Beekeeper, continued helping keep the apiary running smoothly while teaming up with Elizabeth to begin transforming years of saved beeswax into beautiful usable wax. It's exciting to see another part of the hive's incredible work being put to good use.
Honey Harvest
Months of hard work by hundreds of thousands of honey bees finally paid off.
Fresh 2026 Putney Ridge Raw Honey has officially been harvested and bottled.
Every jar represents countless trips to flowers across our community, millions of blossoms visited, and an incredible amount of teamwork inside the hive.
The bees deserve nearly all the credit.
We're just the bottling crew.
July By The Numbers
🐝 Hives inspected: 15
👑 New queens introduced and accepted: 1
🏠 Hive splits successfully completed: 4
🍯 Fresh 2026 honey harvested: ALOT
🎥 Over two dozen new HiveMind videos released.
📷 Camera tripods defeated by Steve: 4
😴 Buzzloaf productivity: Still hovering around 1%
Buzzwell's Science Corner
What Honey Bees Are Doing in July
July is one of the busiest months of the year inside a honey bee colony.
Worker bees are gathering nectar and pollen from dawn until dusk while nurse bees continue raising the next generation. Colonies carefully regulate temperature inside the hive by fanning their wings and collecting water during hot summer days. Queens remain busy laying eggs, ensuring the colony stays strong heading into late summer.
For beekeepers, July is an important month for monitoring colony health, evaluating honey production, managing mites, watching for swarm activity, and making sure colonies have everything they need for the rest of the season.
In other words...
The bees don't get summer vacation and neither does Erik.
From the HiveMind Studio
July may have been our busiest month ever! If you missed any episodes, here are a few highlights from the hive.
Buzzwell's Helpful Scientific Observation: Every green title below contains a tiny invisible flight path directly to that video. If your cursor turns into a little pointing finger, you've found it. Click away.
🐝 A Mouse Moved Into My Beehive... Bumble Bee Dundee: Case File #003
🐝 The Bee Shuttle Service: Why These Bees Were Trapped in the Honey Shack!
🐝 Tripod vs. Steve: Inspecting 15 Hives... Then the Camera Fell. Twice!
🐝 A New Queen Arrives! Swearing In Our New Queen Be
📣 A Small Favor From One Hive To Another
If you've been enjoying our videos, our photos, or this newsletter, we'd love your help.
Please consider following us on:
Every new follower helps more people discover the amazing world of honey bees, local beekeeping, and the occasional questionable decision made by Buzzloaf.
And if you know someone who enjoys nature, wildlife, gardening, local agriculture, or simply appreciates tiny insects doing extraordinary things...
Please invite them to subscribe to the **BeeBrief**.
Think of it as performing a waggle dance...
...except instead of directing someone to flowers, you're directing them to our newsletter.
The bees, and the humans, would truly appreciate it.
A Completely Unbiased Message from Buzzloaf
Now listen up...
If you've made it this far through the BeeBrief, congratulations. Your attention span is officially longer than mine.
Could you do this humble little drone a favor?
Please share this newsletter with your family, your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers... even that one relative who insists bees are just spicy flies. We can fix them.
The more humans who join our hive, the more people learn why honey bees matter, why local beekeepers matter, and why flowers are basically nature's drive-thru.
While you're at it, give us a follow on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Every follow helps our little colony grow, and apparently that's "good for the algorithm." I don't know who Algorithm is, but everyone seems desperate to impress him.
Oh... and if you enjoy fresh local honey, you can pick some up at Putney Ridge Raw Honey, either online at PutneyRidgeRawHoney.com or from one of our fantastic retail partners.
Now if you'll excuse me, all this recruiting has exhausted me. I need a six-hour nectar break.
— Buzzloaf
Director of Quality Control, Professional Honey Sampler, and Full-Time Avoider of Actual Work
Looking Ahead
Summer is far from over.
There are still more hive inspections, more adventures, more surprises, and undoubtedly more investigations involving Buzzloaf and Steve.
As always, thank you for following along with us and supporting local beekeeping.
We'll see you next month.
Until then...
Bee kind to others.
