Just a quick note on the last day of the year.  Spring has arrived in
Hawaii!  Last week we had over six inches of rain, which kicked
Spring into high gear.  The coffee will bloom by this weekend.  The
green sapote is in full bloom.  A few of the macadamia nut trees have
blossoms.  The forty hives I have at my house are quickly building.
They average eight full frames of brood.
 
Here at Kona Queen we have moved all of our hives out of the Winter
locations.  The eucalyptus was good this year and the lehua was not
bad either.  We have plans to being our first queen graft of the year
on January 9.   The drone populations look excellent, with many
queens never pulling out of the drone comb at all this Winter.  We
should have our first queens in early February.
 
A quick reminder to anyone planning on purchasing queens this Spring..
. The demand is incredible.  I have already sold our entire
production of queens between February 1 and June 1.  The waiting list
for "extra" queens is over sixty names.  I am certain that most other
queen breeders are in the same position.
 
Well, I have to go string up the firecrackers for tonight's
celebration.  Hope you all have a good New Year's and are looking
forward to Spring!
 
Mark on the Big Island of Hawaii!