Finley Creek is buzzing with excitement!

Russian hybrid bees are the newest fans of Finley Creek Vineyards, the lovely destination for Jacquie’s Gourmet Catering parties.

Located in Zionsville at 795 S. US 421, Finley Creek is charming, romantic, rustic, and the perfect place to host a wedding reception, family reunion, company picnic or corporate retreat.

It’s also the perfect place to start a colony of Russian hybrid bees, and we’re all a-buzz about our new residents!

Our Russian honeybees (Apis mellifera) originated from the Primorshky Krai region of Russia. The strain was imported into the United States in 1997 in response to severe declines in bee populations caused by infestations of parasitic mites. Russian honeybees are resistant to mites, so the bees have hybridized with American honeybees and improved American bee colonies, resulting in healthier bees, and producing more honey.

When you visit Finley Creek’s grounds, you’ll notice we have added three vertical stackable-framed hives.

These lovely handmade wooden hives are a sort of honeybee brood nest, where our Russian hybrids will congregate, take care of their families, and produce honey. This type of framed hive simplifies honey collection since a “box” of honey can be removed from the stack without upsetting the bees in the entire hive.

Will our bees bother our guests? Absolutely not. They are way too busy working to pollinate the flowers and vegetable plants nearby – (and hopefully very soon, our vineyard flowers.)

It takes a lot of bee energy to produce honey, too. You’ll see we have placed our hives in the back of our extensive property. Our bee keepers will be able to access the honey our bees produce later this season. We’ll be using the honey in our farm-to-table organic baking. We can’t wait for you to taste the results!

Our hope is that as our bee colony succeeds and grows, we will be able to sell our all-natural, locally produced Finley Creek honey and honey-made desserts to the public.

Bee on the lookout for interesting bee updates from Finley Creek Vineyards!