WARNING: For those starting with the foundation sheets (most of you) - be sure to keep an eye on the sugar syrup jar. Maybe keep a second full jar in reserve at all times so you can quickly swap out a jar that's low or empty.
Most likely, the bees don't have much drawn comb to store syrup in; they will starve if they have nothing coming in.
Jen's Bees on a poppy
Meg's swarm
Mike's swarm
Young virgin queen
One day old
Beekeepers class
leg of a bee
see where they pack the pollen grains?
bringing in pollen
protein for the babies
Bee dress
How about a nice hug?
honeybee
worker bee on comb
Drone
See the big guy facing right?
8 comments:
This cold weather will be very hard on the packages, especially those that were installed on foundation. I am expecting some losses in the group. There is not much to do other than wait it out. Tuesday (tomorrow) looks like the best day to look at your hives. If you have not already done so, check to be sure the queen has been released. I would not check for eggs. The less disruption the better. Also, I have switched to medicated syrup because nosema is likely in this cold weather. If others are interested, I have an extra bottle ($50) that would make 20 gals. I could sell half a bottle.
At what point do we intervene and open the queen cage? I only checked one hive but the queen was far from being liberated.
What is nosema and should we treat for it immediately?
What is nosema? Also, I checked one hive and the queen is far from being liberated. At what point do we intervene and open the cage?
Hey Rick - let her loose! Just pull the screen off.
Nosema: a prozoan that lives in the bees gut. Fumagillin treats for it. Most bees probably have a certain level of infection. I medicate them in the fall. Craig has some medicine right now that he would sell at cost. He says that the confinement during this cold weather increases the infection level.
So I am watching our two hives, and 1 seems to be doing better than the other, although I have not checked inside for the queen release yet. Monday Apr 21: Box 1- watched from the outside and maybe dozen bees buzzing around, not agitated, 1/2 quart jar full of syrup, Box 2- watched from the outside and about 3 dozen bees outside, 1/2 quart jar of syrup. Tuesday Apr 22: refilled both syrup jars to full in early am. Evening, Box 1 and 2-syrup at 3/4 full. Wednesday Apr 22 pm: Box 1- syrup still at 3/4 full, Box 2- syrup at 1/2 full.
Should I check inside and make sure queen has been released even though this cold wet weather is supposed to stay until Sat (hi's of 55 Thursday and Friday). Sat forecast is 62 deg so maybe I should wait?
Hi Kim - I dug into only one of my hives - one that wintered over. All hives seem to suck syrup and bring in pollen, good signs of health. I did check to make sure the new queens attained their freedom, and they did. You could do that most any time now, too. I hope to look deep into all my hives Saturday April 26 if we have the promised warmer weather. We have all waited a long time!
So Dave, what could it mean if one box is sucking syrup at double the rate of the other? I watched both hives today from the outside with Amelia and we saw bees carrying pollen into both boxes, so I think we are ok, but curious about the syrup sucking differences.
I think you will have an answer to the question of different rates of syrup consumption when you look at the hive frame by frame. Maybe the one with slower uptake has saturated all the newly drawn comb with syrup, and can't take more? Let us know what you discover.
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