Well it is 53 degrees and sunny so I thought I'd go see if I actually still have bees. And YAY they were flying around like crazy. What to do, what to do....I decided to take a peek under the cover and the dry sugar I had left on top (figured it would be all right because we are wet/damp in this area) was full of bees eating it up. I added a pollen patty just because I figured it wouldn't hurt. I also added my last jar of sugar/water because, again, I figured with these temps and no honey at all last fall, it wouldn't hurt. Of course, feel free to correct me!
They were a bit too agitated for me to feel comfortable in looking into the brood boxes all by myself. I did remember that bee clusters move up in winter, so I was wondering if now would be a good time to flip those brood boxes. I decided against it and added a super instead, but had to take out 8 of the frames because of the dry sugar/patties underneath. I left in top bars in their place just in case they wanted to start making comb at some point.
My current goals:
1. Keep them alive
2. Next month on a warmish day, swap the brood boxes after a good inspection (with a mentor), add the queen extractor, and another super on top.
3. Start supplemental feeding.
4. Prepare for hive #2 and order bees/queen package.
Enjoying the time I've have to read up on beekeeping. Still learning though. Feel free to give me your thoughts; any and all advice appreciated and taken into consideration. :)
Keri Mae
Kingston, WA