Victoria's Honey Bee site hosted by
Barry's Bees
Victoria BC, Canada
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250.213.2894
or by EMail
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Barry the BeeMaster Barry
is an accredited Bee Master and BCHPA certified instructor of Beginner's Beekeeping. He is a local beekeeper serving the Greater Victoria area on the southern end of Vancouver Island, BC Canada as well as the Pender Islands and has been keeping bees for more than 20 years.
March 2025
  Spring is in the air for the South Coast of BC
March 11st is overcast and light rain. My bees are flying during the occasional sunny mid day warmth. The Western Maple buds at the top of the tree are emerging. The long cool spring means another year of late flowering trees which is a challenge to honey bee winter survival.
This also means the the Yellow Jacket paper wasps are also emerging from hibernation. Get a head start on fall wasp management by putting out your traps now. Wasps caught now are queens which means one less colony of about 5,000 waps in the fall.
Bees surviving the winter
I lost half of my bees during October of 2024 due to wasp predation. We have a forecast long and cool rainy season going into 2025. Hopefully, most of my remaining bees will survive.
Consesus among commercial beekeepers is that we are experiencing another year of 50% or more winter losses across Canada and the US. View on YouTube: "The Worst Honey Bee Die-Off since Colony Collaspe Disorder?".
My first swarm call of 2024 was late May, predicting the first swarm call of 2025 is difficult as it depends on our not so predictable weather.
A swarm of honey bees start as a cloud of several thousand bees slowly moving through the air at tree top level. They eventually come down and cluster as a ball, usually on a tree branch. If you see a swarm of honey bees, please stay clear and call me directly on my swarm hotline at 250.213.2894 or by EMail. I will be happy to relocate these easily accessable clustered bees to a new home for FREE. For more information on why honey bees swarm and how to be safe around them, please visit my Swarms web page.
Bumble Bees
I can also relocate a colony of Bumble Bees. Bumble Bees are a ground nesting bee and can be found in compost bins, old bird houses and various other locations. For assistance, please call me directly on my bee hotline at 250.213.2894 or by EMail. I will be happy to relocate these bumble bees to a new home for a small fee to cover travel costs.
Presentations
I am no longer available for presentations to special interest groups within the Greater Victoria area of British Columbia, Canada. Please contact our local bee club, Capital Region Beekeepers, at 250.900.5787.
Equipment

After 10 years of development and field testing the Rain Coast Bee Hive is now available for limited sales.