Good nutrition for your hives will be naturally a challenge with the irregular spring weather (rain, wind and cold). If there’s no food available to your hives; feed, feed, and feed some more! If you think there might be a tiny shortage, feed as early as you can and check for carbs and protein. A protein patty (or frame of pollen) now is the cheapest insurance you can buy. For carbs, try a sugar board, (or frames of honey). Easy to feed and easy to eat. Feeding syrup or sugar boards will stimulate your bees and encourage them to eat. Continue feeding until they no longer take your offering.
Weather permitting, comprehensive inspection and spring-cleaning time is here. Reverse the brood supers, unless the colony and brood are strong (covering both boxes). In this case, you should probably not reverse boxes (as this will split the brood area). You should, however, clean the bottom board whether you reverse boxes or not.
Note: Depending on the weather all of the above may need to be delayed until early May.
Later in the month, check your hives on a warm day for brood pattern, signs of diseases and overall health. If diseases or parasites are found, take necessary action to treat using whatever methods you are comfortable with.
DCBC Minutes 03-22-2022
Max’s Minute 2022-03-08
Spring is an important time of the year for you to monitor hive activity and insure that your bees complete their winter survival. As temperatures begin to warm towards 40 degrees, you will see the bees exiting the hive to make cleansing flights. Significant amounts of orange dots on the snow indicate successful flights. Take a peak under the cover to see that the cluster is still active, and food stores are ample. March is typically a month when food stores are depleted and the bees suffer. If you’ve been supplementing with hard candy or sugar, make sure there are still ample amounts. Later in the month, pollen supplement patties will be a good idea to stimulate the queen.
Max’s Minute 2022-02-05
The Bees: The queen is surrounded by thousand of her workers. She is in the midst of their winter cluster. There is little activity except on a warm day (about 45-50 degrees) when the workers will take the opportunity to make cleansing flights. The bees will consume about 25 pounds of stored honey this month.
The Beekeeper: Little work is required from you in the hives. If there is heavy snow, clear entrance for proper ventilation. This is a great time to catch up on your bee reading, and build/repair equipment for next season.
Max’s Minute 2021-01-11
BeeKeepers Year: January (from Minnesota BeeKeepers Assoc.)
The Bees: The queen is surrounded by thousand of her workers. She is in the midst of their winter cluster. There is little activity except on a warm day (about 45-50 degrees) when the workers will take the opportunity to make cleansing flights. The bees will consume about 25 pounds of stored honey this month.
The Beekeeper: Little work is required from you at the hives. If there is heavy snow, clear entrance for proper ventilation. This is a great time to catch up on your bee reading, and build/repair equipment for next season.
Max’s Minute 2021-12-12
BeeKeepers Year: December
The Bees – The bees are in a tight cluster. No peeking.
The Beekeeper – There’s nothing you can do with the bees, except clear out the entrance of dead bees. Read a good book on beekeeping, and enjoy the holidays!
DCBC Minutes 10-26-2021
DCBC Minutes 09-28-2021
Max’s Minute 2021-10-15
While recent temperatures may not feel like it, Fall is here and there several things you should be doing to help your bees. If you haven’t done so already,test and treat for Varroa Mites. They are in your hive and treating them is the best way to help your colony(s) survive the winter. Once your treatment is complete, it’s time to “fatten” your bees and build protein. Feeding heavy syrup (sugar and water 2:1) is the easiest way to promote fattening. Once you begin feeding, watch the levels. We’re hearing from members that bees are aggressively eating syrup. Lastly, don’t forget to put a mouse guard on your entrance. As we start to experience cooler nights, mice will look for warm nesting sites.
Max’s Minute 2021-09-28
OCTOBER AND THE BEEKEEPER: The goal is to have the bees fill the upper brood chamber during the fall flow, forcing the queen down into the bottom brood chamber. If you do not have enough room, the bees will fill the upper AND lower brood chambers with honey and deprive the colony of space for brood rearing. If this happens, instead of having lots of young bees for the winter, you will have lots of older bees, and the colony will not successfully winter. Always err on the side of too much room, rather than too little.
Prepare your hives for winter. A wind break should be considered. Entrance cleats should be placed in the front opening, along with a mouse guard, to restrict mice from entering the hive. A word about bees and winter. A large, healthy hive will not die from cold weather. They stay warm by clustering in the hive. They keep each other warm. The temperature in the hive is only warm within the cluster. They do not warm the entire inside of their hive, only the cluster. They can survive extreme cold weather. But, moisture can develop within the hive as bees do give off moisture like we do. If this moisture gathers above them, it can drip onto the cluster. This is what can kill bees during the winter. They are much like us. We can be cold and get by. But, we cannot stay alive long if we become wet and cold. Bees can get wet in the summer and it is not a problem. But you must prevent your hive from becoming cold and wet from condensation developing within the hive.
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