ok, so i know that it is the last day of february but there was nothing anyone could this month bee management-wise so I don’t feel so bad for not getting this done till now. Wow, all of winter seems to be happening to us in February. Just when you start to feel that shifting sun in the sky, hear the birds chirping a little more, and see patches of grass peaking through the snow melt, bam 6 inches of snow and back to the a few colder nights and days. I am speaking of the end of this month of course. The first two weeks, from February 4th to February 24th, we got stuck in a polar vortex. Temps well below freezing and zero at night kept all us inside thinking about our sweet little bees. Then it ended and it felt like spring was here! a little tease for what it to come. Just enough for beekeepers to start calling about pollen and winter patties. But, hold your hope horses. Up here in the northland, we got a good 5-6 inches of heavy wet snow that is now shining in the afternoon sun. What a difference a day makes and winter is not done with us!
WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING IN FEBRUARY?
This february, the bees were in total survival mode trying to keep the cluster warm. It is up for debate how much brood rearing occurs in those temperatures. I imagine it depends a little colony to colony and what kind of configuration the beekeeper has them in, but I would guess there was not a whole lot of reproduction happening during the 2 week polar vortex. If there was, I imagine it to be very small clusters of brood. This is up for debate and I am happy to bEe proven wrong. However, it is pretty hard to observe without opening the hive. My assessment comes from observing my observation hive and cleaning out 2 dead outs after the weather broke. I did not see brood in any of the colonies. After the vortex when the weather broke, bees were out pooping. yellow snow and brown spots on tops of the hives were a common site in my apiaries. the weather has changed and besides today and tomorrow we are looking at mild temps in the 10 day forecast so I would gather brood rearing has started or will very soon. What does that mean for bees? They will start to plow through stores as they raise the new worker force. If they had enough honey stores in the fall, they should make it to first nectar and pollen. But, there are always exceptions.
WHAT IS THE BEEKEEPER DOING IN FEBRUARY into March?
Ok, so tomorrow is March. a week from tomorrow, it is supposed to warm up into the high 40’s-low 50’s. This is when I will go check on hives to see if any of them need a frame of honey to get them to dandelions. My beek friends will even wait till mid march but i know that some of my hives did not get fed as much as in the fall as I would have liked them to. And when i say check, i mean i will open the hive briefly to see how big the cluster is and peak at the tops of the frames for honey. I will not, nor should you pull out any frames for observation. Tempting as it may be, it is too early. refer back to my Jan. blog for a guide on at what temps you can do what in the hive. After a year of pandemic and a harsh polar vortex, there is nothing I want more than to play with bees but we must restrain ourselves for the sake of the bees. They don’t want what we want!
Gary Reuter from MHBA said it best in a recent facebook post: “Let's start with inspections. I know it is "warm" and you can't wait to check on your bees. If you have to go look. See if they are alive. Do not open the hive if they are alive. If you disturb the cluster you cause a lot of heat loss. You will also likely kill a bunch of bees because they are separated from the cluster. You can lift up on the hive to get an idea of how much honey is in the hive. Do not feed unless they really need it. Meaning they will starve in the next few weeks. Adding sucrose "just in case" this time of year is not good for the bees. They will think it is closer to spring than it is so they start raising more brood then they should. It is going to get cold again and they will need to cluster again. Too much brood means not enough room inside the cluster for honey. Having brood means they can not move the cluster. This increases the chance they will starve in a cold snap. If you must feed it is best to give frames of honey. It is best to put them in a box and put that box on top of the colony. If you have to add frames, do not put them in the cluster. Add them to the edge of the cluster. Do not disturb the cluster. Do not add sugar, winter patties or whatever containing sucrose at this time of year It is too early for pollen patties so wait until you read the newsletter for that. Be patient and let the bees do what they do best.”
Many of you may be wondering about my survival so far. After the polar vortex, i did go out to take stock of my stock! as of yesterday, I was at 80% survival on 101 hives. Most of the hives that died, were dead before the vortex which would suggest mite issues. And looking at my notes from last year, that is definitely the case. I only lost a few after the vortex and they were hives that I had marked having smaller clusters. The weaker hives are usually taken out with extreme winter weather events. With an average loss in the US of the 40-60% range, i am very please with 20% loss. It is my best winter survival yet. Although, we are not out of the woods yet and have some winter to go, my records indicate hives alive now, generally make it unless they starve. Could it be that winters are more mild overall since I started? perhaps. Could it be that I am learning more year after year? perhaps. Could it be that I don’t buy outside bees anymore? perhaps! Beekeeping is always a combination of factors and the lesson is that as beekeepers, we must hit every angle as best we can to move towards better bees and better management. Also, I was pleased to see that 2 of my colonies that I pegged for breeding from are still alive and well. I am excited to be able to share those genetics with club camp beez kneez members and those that buy bees from me this year. huzzah!
As you can see in the photo above, I have also been working on my new flatbed truck and gradually moving out of my shop in Mpls. So the month of march I will be very busy moving all my stuff and getting ready to launch Beez Kneez WI from my home, trade River ranch. Stay tuned for photos and updates from this move in the coming months. Daunting, exciting and scary but the pandemic and life circumstances have brought me to this change. Such is life and bees.
I want to share a little recent beekeeping news: Oxalic Acid was recently approved to use with honey supers on. although the colony will not be broodless during the honey flow so I would not treat unless for some reason your hive is broodless with boxes you intend to use for honey at some point.
Also, I have been really enjoying the presentations this winter coming out of the Western Apicultural Society. check out their youtube channel
