Ginger & Bees

Ginger & Bees Hi! Welcome to Ginger Bees! I'm Tara! I’m a wildlife biologist, redhead, and love my bees!

A rare cool morning + my bees = exactly what I needed today! 🌻I switched up my work schedule so I could take advantage o...
07/30/2026

A rare cool morning + my bees = exactly what I needed today! 🌻

I switched up my work schedule so I could take advantage of the rare 70–80° overcast morning and get some hive work done before the heat rolled in.

I put mustard strips in each hive for Varroa management, checked everyone over, and I’m happy to report every colony looked great and every colony has a queen! 👑🐝 Every colony was incredibly calm! It’s always nice to work happy, calm bees. They must be enjoying the brief break in the heat just as much as their beekeeper.

Three of my newest colonies are still building resources for winter, so I’m continuing to feed them sugar syrup. The others are doing SO well that they’re putting honey away quickly. Teddy colony already has a super ready to harvest, and another is getting close! 🍯 One of my coworkers 3D printed me a new bee escape that I added to an inner cover, and I’m trying out! I have a second (original) escape board that I thought another colony might need, but they just aren’t quite ready yet. The escape boards help evict the bees calmly and safely from the honey supers that are ready for harvest. I prefer them! I might need a few more 3D printed! They are awesome!

The extreme heat has slowed honey production since the bees have been spending so much time collecting water and cooling the hives. Hopefully yesterday’s rain replenished the blooms and today’s “cooler” day gives everyone a little break from the heat so they can get back to work.

I also found and marked the queen in my Teddy colony, and my Opie swarm colony is looking great. I think they have a good shot at making it through winter as a 5-over-5.

My dad helped me build more moisture quilts over the weekend, so every hive now has one, including the 5-over-5. Another piece of winter prep checked off! Although, I now leave them on year-round. ❄️🐝

And that little kids’ microscope I shared? I bought one to test it out, and it works GREAT! 🔬 I can still see eggs with my own eyes 😅, but this will be fantastic for future classes so students can actually see what we’re looking for inside the hive.

And as I finished up, I looked toward the house and saw Jade and Cooper watching me from the door. 🥹🐶🐱 They were pretty darn cute.

Opal is slowly adjusting to her new little brother, too… although she’s still a little cranky with both her siblings. 🥹 She’ll get there.

Happy morning with my bees. 💛🐝

07/26/2026

My bees are taking water like crazy to cool their hives! I’m sorry girls, I agree that it’s too hot. 🥵Currently 104°. Honeybees mostly stop collecting nectar when temperatures go over 100°F, shifting their focus to gathering water and cooling the hive and their brood (baby bees).

07/14/2026

Coming soon!
Ginger & Bees Honey Kiosk! In Rapid Valley, SD.

I’m going to build some kind of cute stand to attach to my fence and make it secure. It will be super easy for neighbors to come scan the QR code, choose what they want and how they want to pay for it, the door opens, and they take their item! I don’t trust people or their kids to do the right thing with the honor system and not steal items. And sometimes people are anti-social and might want to ask if I have honey for sale, but don’t. This will make it easy for everyone! 🍯🍯🍯

06/09/2026

A few days ago, I received a message from a lovely woman named Connie. She had watched a swarm of bees move from a tree in her yard into a small space beneath her shed. Her husband wanted to spray them, but Connie wanted to save them, so she started looking for a beekeeper and found me.

Thankfully, she contacted me the same day the bees moved in, and I happened to be in town. When I arrived to take a look, I realized this might be the perfect opportunity to try a trap-out method.

I had attempted a trap-out a few years ago for another homeowner, but there were simply too many entrances and exits, so it wasn’t successful. This shed, however, had only one small opening. I built a mesh funnel, duct-taped the heck out of it, and made sure the bees had only one way out and no way back in.

Then I placed a swarm trap about three feet away with drawn comb and a blade of lemongrass. The eviction process had officially begun.

Three days later (today), Connie sent me a video of the bees collected at the swarm trap and asked, “Did it work?” My response: “I think it did!”

Tonight, I returned at dusk to pick them up. The bees were calm, the box was noticeably heavier, and things looked successful. I placed a mesh laundry bag over the trap to collect the bees hanging outside and brought them home.

Once I got home, I set the trap next to the hive they’ll eventually live in and removed the mesh. That’s when a few bees reminded me that being relocated isn’t exactly their favorite thing, and I incurred a sting to my inner thigh.

As a few cranky bees emerged, I ran like a crazy woman back to the garage. A few followed me. Unfortunately, one found Jade, who was patiently waiting in the backyard. She yelped, screamed, and sprinted inside the house with a bee on her shoulder. I caught her, removed the bee, and within seconds she was back to her happy little puppy self.

Jade and I both have Benadryl in our systems tonight, and the bees have a new home.

I can honestly say this was one of the coolest beekeeper things I’ve ever done. Not only did my trap-out work, but Connie and I were able to save an entire colony that otherwise might have been sprayed.

A huge thank you to Connie for choosing to save the bees. 🐝❤️

Have you taken the Basic Beekeeping Course through Western Dakota Tech? Interested in the Advanced Course? It’s coming u...
03/26/2026

Have you taken the Basic Beekeeping Course through Western Dakota Tech? Interested in the Advanced Course?

It’s coming up next week! March 30 - April 2 from 6-9pm each evening. We only have 2 registered and need at least 2 more for WDT to run the class. What will I be covering in the course? Check out the topics below and register at www.wdt.edu/corporate-education-center/beekeeping/

Sustaining Your Apiary
Colony Health & Diagnostics
Advanced Nutrition
Advanced Varroa Mite Management
Nosema Ceranae Testing
Expanding Your Apiary: Swarms, Splits, & Removals
Advanced Bee Anatomy
Honeybee Reproduction
Honeybee Species & Subspecies
Fundamentals in Queen Rearing
Moving Hives Safely
Hive Products: Honey, Wax, Propolis & Pollen

03/24/2026

Hi friends, family, and those of you I don’t know as well yet; but I’m glad you’re here 🤍

First, thank you. Every time I post something as simple as a new chapstick and immediately get orders, it genuinely means so much to me. It’s a little overwhelming on my end (in the best possible way), packing everything up and getting it out to you, but I’m incredibly grateful for that kind of support.

I do want to be real with you for a minute.

I’m not a big business. I’m not a brand with a team, investors, or mass production. I’m not a MLM. It’s just me. I’m managing a handful of bee colonies, harvesting honey, rendering wax, processing propolis, and handmaking every single product myself.

And right now, small businesses like mine are feeling it.

Rising costs, tariffs, and supply chain shifts aren’t hitting massive corporations the same way; they’re hitting people like me. The ingredients and packaging I’ve relied on (and trusted for their quality) have gotten significantly more expensive, and in some cases, I’ve had to pivot completely just to keep going.

I’m doing everything I can to stay true to what I believe in, high-quality, thoughtfully sourced ingredients, and more sustainable packaging choices like glass over plastic; even when it’s harder to find and might be more expensive.

This isn’t about being dramatic, or political, it’s just the reality of being a very small, independent business right now. And this administration is hurting small businesses.

So when you choose to support me, please know you’re not just buying chapstick or a lotion bar, or honey, you’re supporting a real person, real work, and a business that’s trying to do things the right way in a system that doesn’t always make that easy.

I appreciate you more than you know 🤍

All my love,
Tara

New Lip Balm! Bee Bare… no essential oils added. Just natural ingredients… propolis infused olive oil, beeswax, cocoa bu...
03/24/2026

New Lip Balm! Bee Bare… no essential oils added. Just natural ingredients… propolis infused olive oil, beeswax, cocoa butter & oil, shea butter, aloe butter, honey, and vitamin e. ☺️❤️🐝💋 $3 each. Contact me or order on www.thegingerandbees.com

Also I’m getting lower on honey… I won’t have more until August most likely. So if you need honey, contact me before it’s sold out until the new 2026 honey season! ❤️🍯

I love books… but I can’t say I’ve spent $100 on a book before (that wasn’t a college textbook). The author sells these,...
02/27/2026

I love books… but I can’t say I’ve spent $100 on a book before (that wasn’t a college textbook). The author sells these, and only the author. He even autographed it for me. I’m building more material to include in my Advanced Beekeeping Courses that I teach. The varying methods of queen rearing is one such topic. 😊❤️🐝

I have scheduled the rest of my 2026 class schedule:

Courses I Teach at Western Dakota Technical College

✨New✨
Summer Weekend Basic Beekeeping Course

July 18–19 | 9 AM – 4 PM (classroom)
Saturday evening 6–8 PM — hands-on apiary session (optional)

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Additional Course Dates (Evening Courses)

Advanced Beekeeping (Spring)
March 30 – April 2 | 6–9 PM
Apiary Day: April 4 | 1–3 PM (for Feb basic & advanced students)

Basic Beekeeping (Fall)
August 24–28 | 6–9 PM
Apiary Day: October 24 | 1–3 PM

Advanced Beekeeping (Fall)
October 19–22 | 6–9 PM
Apiary Day: October 24 | 1–3 PM

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Basic Beekeeping Topics Include:
- SD and Rapid City regulations (and other states when applicable)
- Honeybee biology, anatomy, and development
- Equipment and hive options
- Pests, diseases, predators, and treatments
- Supplemental feeding and colony management
- Hive inspections and seasonal management
- Queen management and colony dynamics
- Preparing bees for winter
- Africanized honeybees
- Introduction to natural beekeeping

Advanced Beekeeping Topics Include:
- Sustaining and expanding your apiary
- Splits, swarm catching, and removals
- Moving hives safely
- Queen rearing basics and genetics
- Hive products (honey, pollen, propolis, wax)
- Colony health diagnostics
- Advanced varroa management
- Nutrition and seasonal resources
- Overwintering success

I typically invite additional local beekeepers to share their experiences during each course as well.

Use this link to register: https://www.wdt.edu/corporate-education-center/beekeeping/

It was a great Buzz in the BH Beekeeper’s Conference! My friend Phil Breed with Birdsong Bees was adamant about winning...
02/22/2026

It was a great Buzz in the BH Beekeeper’s Conference! My friend Phil Breed with Birdsong Bees was adamant about winning the silent auction for my oil painting, and he did. 😊 All the speakers were fantastic! Erica and Tracey handled the coffee and food so well! And the prizes and silent auction items were phenomenal… special thanks to Julie and Frank! And Garry for being MC! And thank you to all the vendors! I hope all our attendees were able to learn something new and gain more knowledge from the Buzz Conference. On Friday evening, the social sold out Tom Repas’ mead… of course we are a bunch of beekeepers haha. 😊🐝❤️🥂

Address

Rapid City, SD
57702

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