That time again

[doak]

Will go into my hives tomorrow and hoping for a still day.
I have a stack of boxes of honey that seem to not have bees in it. Another that has bees with no honey. Also want to see what the other colony is doing. Maybe I will have two to start out with.
Plan on trying to start 2 or 3 more after the main nector flow. I need to try to get at least one 5 gallon bucket or maybe 2 of honey. :)doak

[Two Bees]

I'm going to do the same on Sunday afternoon.  Temps are supposed to be in the low-mid 60s.  I have dry sugar and/or wet syrup  :-D to put on the hives.  Will probably rotate the boxes if they are in the top as well.  Wish me luck!

[KD4MOJ]

Yep it's supposed to be in the mid 60's here this weekend. So it's going to bee a BEEhappy weekend. Lots of stuff to do!

...DOUG
KD4MOJ

[doak]

Well, I opened them up today like I said I would. Found 2 Queens and another  colony with different stages of brood but didn't try to find the queen. One of the ones that had the queen is very low populated. Don't know if it will make it or not.
Any suggestions?  :)doak

[David LaFerney]

Is it really time to start manipulations like hive body reversals?   Last year the maples bloomed here on March 6  -  a little over two weeks from now, but yesterday and today were the first time in 2 weeks or so that my bees came out at all.  I took a peek and both of my hives still have plenty of dry sugar on top so I'm not worried about starvation.  I kind of had in mind to leave them alone for a while yet.  Is that wrong?

[doak]

No, I would not reverse right now, if you do at all. It isn't really necessary unless the queen refuses to go back down. Not a good practice to get into. I do it only when nothing else works. If you are using three mediums for brood it is harder to get it right than when using 2 deeps. You don't want to split the cluster&brood apart.

My winged Elm are blooming now and the Maples will follow. One of my die outs left 5 boxes of capped honey and the hive beetles froze from lack of warmth from the bees. The honey is still good so I will for the first time in 10 years extract some honey in Feb. :shock: :)doak

[David LaFerney]

No, I would not reverse right now, if you do at all. It isn't really necessary unless the queen refuses to go back down. Not a good practice to get into. I do it only when nothing else works. If you are using three mediums for brood it is harder to get it right than when using 2 deeps. You don't want to split the cluster&brood apart.

My winged Elm are blooming now and the Maples will follow. One of my die outs left 5 boxes of capped honey and the hive beetles froze from lack of warmth from the bees. The honey is still good so I will for the first time in 10 years extract some honey in Feb. :shock: :)doak

I see. I am looking forward to working with my bees though.  But I don't want to bother them until the time is right. 

I've seen a few dead SHB on my sticky boards all along this winter.  Hopefully there won't be many to make it through.  I noticed last fall that they would sometimes hide out in empty comb and burr comb - probably plenty of that as winter ends.  Nasty little buggers.  I've got Screened bottom boards with oil traps on my two hives and I'm making more for future expansion - and to curry favor with another local bee keeper in case I was to get in need of brood or something.   :)

[doak]

Like someone said in another thread, keep check on the stores. More bees starve between now and when the first good flow comes than during the winter. Rearing brood takes its toll on stores.

If you haven't done so already, make a small journal on the time different things bloom.
I know I want my colonies to be ready for the big one around the 20th of April. Tulip Popular, lapping over with Persimmons, honey locust,  then blackberries. Then it is nip and tuck till the Kudzu blooms. :)doak

[JhnR]

I went into my hives today at 39 degrees...three are gone after a high wind episode
(70 MPH-20 F) pushed each one into the next..the fourth hive held firm. I put a quart of sugar water in the remaining hives and had to cover another because the sun was shinning bright on this hive so the girls wanted out. There were hundreds flying in and out. About 50 were sitting on the top cover so I watched for awhile....they were flexing their wings and legs and I think enjoying their freedom....and then no movement. So, I put them in a jar and brought them into the house to warm up for a few minutes. I put a little honey in the bottom and when they were full I returned them to the hive. I so enjoy watching bees do there thing. We have had an easy winter this year, yet, I have lost hives full of honey and pollen but have two hives that never filled two 8 frame boxes and they look fine. In NH we don't start to feed pollen patties until St. Pats day but I am using Megabee patties I made with honey this week. Will this start the queen to lay early? I hope not as they may start to eat their young if I can't get into the hives. We still have a good month or more of winter here. I'm REALLY looking forward to summer.

John