Farm & Barn · email alerts for New England, New York and Pennsylvania

Know the next good day to check on your bees.

Name: Farm & Barn email alerts
Brand: Backroad Almanac
Price: 49.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Flight days and calm days to check stores in late winter, swarm season and the main honey flow in spring, mild stretches for hive work in summer and the fall’s last week for syrup, for your bee yard’s own forecast.

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Get the alerts: $49 a year

We email only when something changes at your place: at most 3 alert emails a day, alerts that come together share one email, and nothing from 9 pm to 6 am. Routine alerts wait for one 6 am morning email. Turn off any alert you don't want. 30-day money-back guarantee.

What's in Farm & Barn

For your bees

Flight days: the first day of 50°F or more with some sun after a week of highs under 48°F (November to March)
Hive stores: calm days of 40°F or more from late February to mid-April, to heft for stores, and the fall’s last week warm enough for syrup
Swarm season: when fruit trees bloom near you, the start of swarm season, and when black locust blooms, the start of the main spring flow (time for supers)
Mild stretches: four or more days in a row with highs of 50–85°F, good weather for hive work (April to September)

Also in Farm & Barn

Switch off what you don’t keep.

The coop call (October to March): an afternoon email before single-digit nights and bitter wind chills, on the fall’s first hard freeze (time for a heated waterer), and before sudden cold snaps
Hot, humid days for animals, by the livestock temperature-humidity index (May to September), with its own switch
The blanket call: tonight’s low, wind chill, rain or ice at your barn, with the blanket weights for clipped and unclipped horses (September to May, on the afternoons the call changes)
Hay windows: three or more dry days in a row (May to September), when growers near you can cut and bale, and a note if rain moves in
Hay prices every week from the two Lancaster County, PA hay auctions (New Holland on Monday, Leola on Wednesday), the nearest USDA-reported hay sales: grass, timothy, orchard grass, alfalfa and straw, per ton, in your Sunday email
Livestock prices from USDA-reported sale barns within 100 miles (Pennsylvania and New York), in your Sunday email
County fairs in Massachusetts and New York only, two weeks before they open

Switch off any you don't want. Every alert comes by email.

Hive emails run from late-winter stores checks through swarm season and the summer to the fall’s last week for syrup. Winter flight-day emails come only after a full week of highs under 48°F, so some winters bring just one or two.

Everything$79 a year

Farm & Barn plus the other five packs, including frost nights (Home, Land & Garden) and peak bloom near you (Wildlife & Nature), a second place like an out-yard or a camp, and a copy of each alert to a second email.

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Where the alerts come from

National Weather Service hourly forecasts for your bee yard
USDA AMS Market News reports from Pennsylvania and New York livestock and hay auctions
Fair dates from the Massachusetts and New York State fair associations
Daily temperatures from NOAA’s Regional Climate Centers, timed against UMass Extension’s indicator plants and the University of Maryland’s bloom calendar
Hive timing from the Maine State Apiarist, Penn State Extension and University of Illinois Extension

Public data, checked around the clock, matched to your place. When a source changes, you get one plain email that says what changed and what it means for you.

30-day money-back guarantee

If it isn't worth it to you, reply to any of our emails within 30 days for a full refund. No questions asked.

Sample alerts from real days

Backroad AlmanacWed, Feb 25, 2026 · 6:00 am

Flight day for the bees Friday: 51°F and sunny

After a cold week, this should be warm and sunny enough for cleansing flights. A good day for a quick look: heft the back of the hive to check stores, add sugar or fondant if it feels light, and clear the entrance. Keep the cover off only a minute or two.

Per National Weather Service State College, PA forecast.

Sample alert: a real February week near Williamsport, PA, rebuilt from the airport’s weather records.

Two more for the bees, and one from the rest of Farm & Barn

Backroad AlmanacFri, Mar 6, 2026 · 6:00 am

Hive check weather today: 42°F at midday, wind 9 mph; time to heft for stores

Maine’s State Apiarist warns that hives that make it through the hardest part of winter can still starve in March or April. On a calm day above 40°F, heft the back of each hive or take a quick look through the inner cover; if stores are light, feed candy, fondant or dry sugar. Save opening the brood nest for a calm day above 50°F.

Per National Weather Service State College, PA forecast.

Sample alert: a real March day near Lancaster, PA, rebuilt from the airport’s weather records.

Backroad AlmanacFri, Mar 27, 2026 · 6:00 am

Swarm season starts near you around Wednesday: fruit trees coming into bloom

Colonies tend to swarm in spring around the first good nectar flow (Maine State Apiarist), and fruit-tree bloom is when Maine’s calendar suggests splits for swarm control. Check for queen cells every 5–7 days and give crowded hives room with another box or frames (Penn State Extension).

Per UMass Extension indicator plants, with temperatures from NOAA’s Regional Climate Centers (RCC-ACIS) and the NWS forecast.

Sample alert: a real March week near Lancaster, PA, rebuilt from NOAA Regional Climate Center temperature records.

Backroad AlmanacSun, Nov 2, 2025 · 1:05 pm

First hard freeze of the fall at the coop tonight: low 24°F

Water left out will freeze tonight. Extension guides (Purdue, UNH, Delaware State) say to switch to a heated base or bowl, or bring fresh water morning and evening, more often while it stays below freezing; hens shouldn’t go more than about 10 hours without water.

Per National Weather Service Caribou, ME forecast.

Sample alert: a real November night near Bangor, ME, rebuilt from the airport’s weather records.

How many emails? A real year

A Farm & Barn reader at a barn near Cazenovia, NY would have gotten 42 emails from January through October 2026, about one a week: 24 from Farm & Barn (mostly hive weather, county fairs and hive stores & feeding) and 18 with only free alerts (waterfalls running and meteor showers & clear skies).

Farm & Barn alertsFree alerts only

Emails each month, 2026
Month	Emails	Free alerts only
January	2	2
February	2	0
March	6	4
April	7	3
May	5	2
June	3	1
July	8	2
August	6	3
September	1	0
October	2	1

We ran that year's real weather and agency records through the same rules that send our alerts. Where an alert reads a forecast, the weather that actually came stood in for it. The busiest month was July, with 8. You can turn off any alert you don't want. This reader bought from this page, so the horse and chicken alerts started off (you can turn them on).

Common questions

When is swarm season?

It starts around fruit-tree bloom, about 100 growing degree days (base 50°F) into the year at your bee yard, and the main spring flow comes with black locust bloom, about 357. We count them from the daily temperatures there and email as each one comes due.

When can I check my hives in late winter?

On a calm day of 40°F or more you can heft the back of the hive to judge stores; we email those days from February 20 to April 15. After a cold week, a day of 50°F or more is a flight day, and we send that too.

When is it too late to feed syrup in the fall?

Bees need days of about 50°F to take syrup down. We email the fall’s last week warm enough for it, so you know when to finish feeding.

Updated November 2026.

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Questions?

Write to support@backroadalmanac.com and a person answers.