Happy New Year, 2023!
Happy New Year to you, your families, and your bees!
We here at Pinesmoke Bee Company had a great 2022! We incorporated during the first quarter and officially launched our company publicly in September. Along with all the business launch projects, tasks etc., we worked very hard to continue to grow our colony count to be ready to jump strongly into the new year.
Aside from the ever present disease and pest pressure, some of the other challenges we had to overcome this year were mostly caused by Mother Nature. The Orange Blossom season early in the year took a hard freeze, knocking the blossoms off the trees before the bees could bring in enough nectar to produce a surplus of honey. A tremendously hot and humid summer followed, along with two hurricanes in September to shut down the nectar flow a full month early. For the icing on top, we installed a pile of late season queens who turned into drone layers just a couple weeks after the take. All said, it’s been quite a challenging launch year and yet, we are still way ahead despite all the challenges. We are thankful for the forward trajectory and looking forward to 2023!
So what’s in store for ’23 you might ask?
Right at the top of the year we have the American Beekeeping Federation Conference and Trade Show to attend. This is our first year attending the conference as Pinesmoke Bee Company and fortunately the event is taking place right in our backyard, Jacksonville FL. An easy quick trip north a bit, a stop off to see friends and family living in the Jacksonville area, and a week surrounded by the nation’s brightest beekeepers, industry leaders, and scientists. The trip looks to be filled with lots of fun and plenty of conversations about how bad the mites were in ’22. That last bit said in jest of course, we are actually quite excited to see what’s in store for us at the conference!
Also in the first quarter, we will move some of our colonies to the citrus groves and will work diligently toward a bountiful Orange Blossom honey harvest. Coming early in the year you will see educational opportunities from Pinesmoke Bee Company along with Nuc sales. Look for our product catalog for both beekeepers and non beekeepers alike to continue to grow and later in the year, our additional social media accounts will launch.
We are working on quite a few projects, some of which are internal infrastructure, some outward facing. We are not yet ready to release the details of these projects, and rest assured you will begin seeing their progress chronicled via our social media accounts and website blog as we intend on showing you our growth, the entire way through.
We hope you have a celebratory and safe New Years Eve this evening, and a fruitful year ahead.
Again, Happy New Year from the Pinesmoke Bee Co team!
—
TJ Lawrence
President, Pinesmoke Bee Company, Inc.
Photographer: Michael McGowan
