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I looked through all of my hives yesterday. I was very pleased with what I saw for the most part. The queen is laying in most of the hives, in fact I saw some capped brood already. I cleaned all the bottom boards and reversed some of my boxes. A lot of beekeepers will tell you that you MUST reverse your boxes. I'm the beekeeper who will never tell you that you MUST do anything. If a huge portion of the bee colony is in the top box, you can reverse it to the bottom. I have a husband who helps me lift, but if I didn't, I wouldn't reverse these heavy boxes. We don't turn trees upside down, which is where wild bees live. haha! I saw pollen already stored, but I still went ahead and added in a little more pollen. I only fed 1/2 gallon, because they really have a lot of honey left. And, all their frames are drawn. When I do my splits in late April, I'll start feeding aggressively at that time. I did find a queen-less colony. It's a really bad time for that to be happening. I stole a frame of eggs from a rocking hive and gave it to this hive without a queen. The odds are very low. Mathematically, the new virgin queen will be born in 16 days. That will be 03/23/20. Will there be drones hanging out at the singles club (drone congregation area) waiting to mate with virgins? I just don't know. I hope so! A virgin queen being mated is always risky with Spring rain too. She has to fly out, be mated and fly back without being eaten by a predator, hit by a car, soaked by rain, etc.. Fingers crossed!
One more thing before I wrap this up. I have a meaner than snot hive that I can't wait to re-queen when the time is right. People get way too attached to their queens. I've seen people refuse to "give up" on a queen that isn't laying well and letting their hive die because of this "attachment". Don't get attached to her. She sets the tone or the mood for the whole hive. If they're mean and not fun to inspect, get rid of her and replace her. My blog will be about how to do that, when that time comes. Today I am working more on the yard. I'm trying to get these seeds in the ground today, before the rain this week. I'll be selling 5oz bags for $20.00. They are a mix of bee/butterfly flowers. Let me know if you'd like one!! It really sucks to open your hive and see the bees didn't make it through winter. Your first thought is, what the heck happened? There are a few signs to help determine why a hive died. For example, if the cluster is small, you know the number of bees wasn't large enough to keep themselves warm. The queen didn't lay enough "winter babies" to help get the hive through winter...or, the hive had a large mite load and honestly, mites can decimate a hives colony size fast. The winter survival rate is dependent on your Summer/Fall mite and feeding management. I'm doing mite counts this year. I've never done that, but this year I want to monitor my mite load better. I'm also buying an Oxalic Acid vaporizer so I can do a blast when needed. I'll blog about that when it's time. So, grieve your loss, but don't give up. Clean out all the dead bees, brush off your bottom board, freeze your frames of drawn comb and look at the head start you have for this year! Buy a NUC or Full Hive and try again. I read somewhere that if you make it 3 years in beekeeping, you'll be a beekeeper for life. I truly believe that. :)
FOOD FOR THOUGHT FILM SERIES - HONEYLAND
Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 6 PM – 8:00 PM Kansas State University - Olathe 22201 W Innovation Drive Olathe, KS 66061 *Free Event - Donations appreciated! INTRODUCTION TO BEEKEEPING Friday, March 27th, 2020 at 6:30PM - 8:00 PM The Lakeside Nature Center 4701 E Gregory Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64132 *$10 a person - 100% of the sales will be donated back to Lakeside! BEGINNER'S BEEKEEPING CLASS Saturday, March 28th, 2020 at 9:00AM - 3:00PM University of Missouri Extension Office - Cass County 201 W Wall Street Harrisonville, MO 64701 *$65 a person; includes breakfast, lunch and a book! INTRODUCTION TO BEEKEEPING Friday, April 3rd, 2020 at 6:30PM - 8:00 PM Fraternal Order of Eagles 26433 Eagle Drive Paola, KS 66071 *$10 a person - This will BEE my last Introduction Class for the year!! To Feed or Not to Feed!
Looking at the weather forecast for the next week, I'm seeing highs of 63, 66, 49, 56 and 58! But, more importantly, I'm seeing the lowest low being 33. What this means to me is that it's sugar water time. Now, that doesn't mean you absolutely need to feed your bees. It's warm enough to open that lid and take a look. Don't go digging around a bunch, just pull a few frames to see how the honey stores are looking. If you don't want to open the lid, do the "lift test", (where you pick up the box on one side) and if it feels pretty heavy, the bees may be just fine on honey stores. If it's feeling light, you need to open up the lid and take a look at what you've got! I'll be adding in a quarter sized pollen patty as well on Saturday. I'll check that patty in about 5 days to see how much has been eaten. I like to add pollen in a bit early to give them a start on that bee bread (aka baby food). Saturday at 10am, I'll be teaching my "introduction to beekeeping" class at the OP Arboretum. It's a sold out event and that is awesome!! If you are going, please say hi and let me know you've read the blog. |
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