It has been a long winter, but not a harsh one. I lost four hives and four nucs, so am not in bad shape...
The decision has been made to head to Maine with 100+ hives next spring, so I have been building hives the latter part of the winter, and still have a LOT more to build.
I am building them on a 4 hive pallet design, and will get pictures for the next blog entry..
The time has jumped ahead on me, and I have four medium box tall hives that are already overflowing with bees, and its only the middle of April... Apparently the bees know, because they are building up in leaps and bounds.. so this week I will be making queens and preparing to do splits. With a little luck, I can get some pictures of all of that as well.
I will be using the Waynes bees I got from NC to use as the donor hives for eggs to make new queens. The waynes bees came through the mild winter very well, and are booming already. their ability to resist mites not withstanding..
So, Spring! The Dandelions have JUST popped.. the bees are in build up mode. Hopefully you have all gone through your hives recently, cleaning bottom boards, reversing and doing any other spring prep.. this includes treating for Varroa if you have not already done so. Get in those hives! In this area, it looks like swarm season is JUST about to arrive... two to three weeks early, so dont get caught off guard! Other keeps I know have already had swarms, so no excuses to keep putting it off!
I have a cut out to do from a duck box that I will try to get pictures of, and several other cut outs pending.. looks like its going to be a hectic spring, trying to get all of this done AND build up to 150 ish hives before fall!
I do have a fall back plan if I don't make it.. I can buy March packages next spring and feed them to build them up for polination, but I prefer to have them all ready to rock without buying packages.. we shall see how well this goes!
I hope, EVERY hive you have made it through winter, and that you get 140 lbs of honey from every hive this summer!
Keep your bees happy!
Scott
The decision has been made to head to Maine with 100+ hives next spring, so I have been building hives the latter part of the winter, and still have a LOT more to build.
I am building them on a 4 hive pallet design, and will get pictures for the next blog entry..
The time has jumped ahead on me, and I have four medium box tall hives that are already overflowing with bees, and its only the middle of April... Apparently the bees know, because they are building up in leaps and bounds.. so this week I will be making queens and preparing to do splits. With a little luck, I can get some pictures of all of that as well.
I will be using the Waynes bees I got from NC to use as the donor hives for eggs to make new queens. The waynes bees came through the mild winter very well, and are booming already. their ability to resist mites not withstanding..
So, Spring! The Dandelions have JUST popped.. the bees are in build up mode. Hopefully you have all gone through your hives recently, cleaning bottom boards, reversing and doing any other spring prep.. this includes treating for Varroa if you have not already done so. Get in those hives! In this area, it looks like swarm season is JUST about to arrive... two to three weeks early, so dont get caught off guard! Other keeps I know have already had swarms, so no excuses to keep putting it off!
I have a cut out to do from a duck box that I will try to get pictures of, and several other cut outs pending.. looks like its going to be a hectic spring, trying to get all of this done AND build up to 150 ish hives before fall!
I do have a fall back plan if I don't make it.. I can buy March packages next spring and feed them to build them up for polination, but I prefer to have them all ready to rock without buying packages.. we shall see how well this goes!
I hope, EVERY hive you have made it through winter, and that you get 140 lbs of honey from every hive this summer!
Keep your bees happy!
Scott