Hello all!
Well, last year was a doozy in my work world, and unfortunately the bees had to take a back seat. I was pretty much a "bee-haver" rather than a beekeeper last year. Of course, my neglect didn't seem to bother the girls very much and they all seem very healthy and happy - from the outside at least :).
Things are getting back under control at work and I am excited to get back into my little loves! I spent all day yesterday cleaning and scraping the frames and boxes that got thrown in the basement last summer. The weather is cold but sunny and the ladies are flying like crazy. I realized I need some advice to start this season out right. So, here I am! :D
First, there was some waxmoth activity on the frames. Not heaps, and it looked like the freezes we have had so far may have killed or checked their development. I cut out any wax that had a lot of webbing and tossed it and scraped those frames really well. There were some where the comb looked pretty good, with just a wisp of webbing and some black seed like things which i'm thinking are either dung or eggs. I knocked these all out and put the frames in a bag and left them outside in the cold. So to my questions:
1. Will the overnight freezes here in Atlanta be enough to kill any Waxmoth left on the frames or do I need to put them in the freezer?
2. With our crazy winter of warm/cold/warm when should I start thinking about adding a box to give them room for build-up? I'm pretty sure they are already laying, but I don't want to add too soon and freeze them. But I don't want to add too late (which I think i did last year) and then deal with the consequences of that.
So that's all I got! I am so excited for spring, it's all I can do to not start planting on these warm days!!!!! I'm driving Hippie-bee crazy already!
Thanks all for any advice!
love,
ziffa