The new normal = there is no Normal! 20deg. below average.-Oofdah!

It is the end of April but it feels like the beginning of March. High of 38 degrees today up here in Grantsburg, low in the 20’s at night. Oofdah. Growing up in Minnesota, talking about the weather was akin to breathing. Complaining about something we can’t control or seem to totally understand is second nature. I imagine this will only become worse as climate change teaches humans a lesson about control over natural resources. Mama nature will be holding us accountable unless we miraculously change course and she is not happy. I hear ya, mama. If only the people at the tippy top did too.

WHAT SHOULD I BEE DOING END OF APRIL OF 2022?

As a beekeeper, I probably check the weather 5 times a day. This spring, it is more like 10. I am definitely agitated and need some sunshine. My poor bee babes have only had 2 decent pollen foraging days that I have witnessed. We are running 20 degrees below average for the month of April. I won’t lie, I am worried. I normally don’t feed pollen in the spring. Looking at the forecast and knowing what I need my bees to do for me and my business in the coming weeks, I broke down and ordered some pollen patties. You may be asking if you need to do this as well. It really depends how many resources are still in your hives and what you are asking from your bees. If you open your colony on a warmer day and it looks like the hive in picture #3 up above, you probably can wait until the weather changes. I am not recommending you pull out any frames until it is in the 60’s and I don’t see that happening in the next 10 days. So to check on your bees, is the box heavy when you lift it from the back? Looking down from the top, can you see capped honey? How does the population look? If you want to make some splits and make some honey this year, adding a pollen patty in this period is my recommendation and sugar water if they are running out of honey. This advice is for over-wintered bees but if you got a package, in April, keep feeding pollen and syrup. A steady supply.

A silver lining is that this weather has giving me more time to work on projects around the farm. The picture on the right is of my partner Kyle digging holes for 10 apple trees we will plant as soon as the low is no longer in the 20’s. More food for bees. I am also working hard on a bee management plan for the coming year.

WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING END OF APRIL 2022?

In order to avoid stressing the bees too much, I have not really opened colonies to look for amount of brood. The bees are on hold, a waiting period. I imagine it will depend on the hive and breed of bee how much they are reproducing but without a lot of pollen, I am guessing they are not really expanding in earnest. Last check on the one warm day, I had lost one or two more that were small at the end of March. This is a very fragile time of year. The winter bees are supposed to carry the hive into the next generation by collecting pollen and nectar. As they raise the next generation, they need to keep the broodnest warm(p90 degrees) so small colonies struggle to do this work when the weather is swinging and staying cold. Also, they should be starting to rear drones for successful mating in late May/early June as it takes 4-5 weeks for a drone to be sexually mature. Bees don’t rear drones very well, if at all if there is not a fresh source of pollen coming in. As someone who needs to make a bunch of queens in late May-early June, this is concerning and will delay the time at which I can hand off my nucs to customers.

Cross your fingers for a swift warm up so our little ladies can get out and get the real deal. it pains me to feed substitute but alas, reality is not pretty these days.

Coldest Winter in 8 years is almost over? Happy Spring?

Get ready! The 2022 beekeeping season is upon us!

Well friends, here we are. Although it was not the coldest winter of my lifetime, it was the coldest in 8 years which is a little over half my beekeeping career and I am glad it is on its way out! It is the 23rd of March and we seem to be having a more typical spring here in the north. Rain one day, snow the next but nothing sticking. The sugar bushes are tapped and running which means we are close to first pollen. Once those maples stop dripping the sweet syrup meant for pancakes, the tree buds will flower and release pollen and a tiny bit of nectar that our bees need to amp up and replenish their workforce. I feel as if we have been spoiled the last 8 years with early an and fast warm up. Not this year and some of you have already lost hives. Don’t get discouraged. Learn from it and move on.

So what should the beekeeper bee doing in March and April of this year?

My patience for getting inside hives is definitely wearing thin! As you can see from the photos above, I have been peeking inside on the warmer days(when it is above 45F) to see the size of the clusters and whether or not they have enough stores to make it through the last days of wintery weather. So far, I am at 80% survival of the 118 hives. I started with last year. A few of them came out of winter on the small size and could still succumb to a loss but most look good, including the monster featured in picture 4. That hive was nearly out of food…lots of little bodies to feed. I ended up adding some frames of honey via another deep box. I usually add frames of honey to the side of the cluster by removing frames number 1 and 10 but there were so many bees and knowing this hive would be eager to swarm in the spring, I made the call. I will report back whether or not it was too soon and the hive experiences some stress but had I done nothing, they would have starved! This hive made me 5 supers of honey last year and kept mites relatively low. She did get treated because others in the yard were higher but has the potential for breeding!

The first photos is from a colony that perished to starvation. If you look closely, you can see a bunch of little bee butts in the cells. a reminder to check out this great article Why did my bees die and Dealing with Deadouts. These two articles are incredible resources to read as you come out of winter not knowing what to do about your dead bees. Losing hives is hard and sad. You work all summer to care for these little creatures that give you so much joy and all you want to do is give back. Provide a good safe home surrounded by plentiful forage and good healthcare. It is ok to cry a little, say goodbye, talk to your favorite beek friend for support…go through the grieving process and learn from it and spring forward! Or don’t. Recognize the ways you could have given just a little more. Ask yourself some tough questions and reassess your role as someone who cares about keeping bees healthy. Do you have the time? Is beekeeping for you? Do you need more education?

Other things you should bee doing are checking your bear fences. Make sure they are strong for when they wake up and are looking for food in early spring. I found a few fencers that blew over in the last wind storm. At one of the yards, a smaller critter, probably a skunk, had come in and was scratching at the front of my hive, tearing off the tar paper. Also, it is time to order any equipment your need for the season. Shipping delays are still real and you never know what supply chain issues will come so order what you need soon. I will be making an order next week if there is anything you wish to order from Betterbee for pick up at my farm in Grantsburg, let me know.

And some exciting news I would like to share! I partnered with a beekeeper named Peggy Desanto. We applied for a SARE Grant to study her state of the art winter wraps. We will be wintering 50 hives with tar paper and top insulation and 50 with her design to see which performs better. Stay tuned to this blog, my social media and youtube channel for updates!

It’s a weird, weird world, Goodbye 2021.

Beekeepers mantra-"There's always next year!"

For many reasons, December was a weird month. The first half was warm. I wrapped the last of my hives on December 3rd. I found two hives that were already dead from a late fall mite explosion that I never got a hold on. Those hives were both treated but apparently I caught it too late. We shall see how the others do. On December 15th, it was 54 degrees and sunny with a chance of tornados in MN and WI. I was so weirded out that i made a video on that day. teatime in my beeyard with Thousands of bees flying. in 12 years of beekeeping, I have never experienced that kind of weather. I have included the video on the bottom of the page. Check it out!

Woke this morning and it was -24F up here in god’s county. What a way to start the year, huh? Found a dead chicken in my coop. Frozen solid like a brick. She was old and missing lots of feathers and was probably getting picked on but still, poor bird. Her sister was nearly dead. Ice had fused her beak together and her eyes were closing so I brought her inside and saved her. But this blog is not about chickens. it is about bees. I have a feeling, we are in for a rough one. The hives that make it through will be the cream of the crop for sure. It’s not so much the temperature as the rapid temperature swings in my view. Insulating the hives is something to really consider for that reason. I am working with another northern beekeeper on a really nice design for winter wraps. Cross your fingers we get the grant we applied for!

What are the bees doing in December

THere is not a whole lot I can say here that I have not said in the past. They are clustered, generating heat to stay alive through the most extreme temperatures. Their ability to do this always blows my mind. Remember, they efficiently heat the cluster and not the cavity. they form a ball and their hairs interlace. an easy way to tell if they are alive in the winter is to check the top entrance for frost. or bee breath as some call it. the cluster expands and contracts as the temperature changes outside. because the colony is breathing as a whole, keeping the inner core around 8of, heat and moisture move towards the air of the empty hole creating a frost ring upon reaching the cold air outside. incredible!

WHAT IS THE BEEKEEPER DOING IN DECEMBER

For the beekeeper, December is about resting, reflecting and reading. The holidays come and go. Hopefully many can see family and friends. we are all tired of covid and want it to be over. I nearly lost my sister to it. It is an awful way to be sick and no one should have to spend their last moments that way. So please beekeepers, get vaccinated and stay safe. We really need to work together to get through this.

I spent December selling honey and candles at markets and online. Once you have enough wax, candle making can happen in earnest. It took me quite awhile to have enough for it to be worth. I invested in a few more molds and made a nice little space in my new honey house. I have been checking the hives in my home apiary periodically when I feed and water the goats in the morning. As you can see in the photo below, I have 7 single 5 frame nucs that I am trying to overwinter. They are sandwiched together and I have wrapped the back and the 2 sides with 2 inch pink insulation. It is incredible to hear them still buzzing on a day like today. I am sure I will have to feed them if they make it till spring but I saved some honey for that very reason. After the cold spell, I will check more yards so I have a better idea what my survival looks like. although, My records from previous years indicate that most of the hives that die do so in February or early March, which would suggest they ran out of food.

Now that 2022 is here, it is already time to start planning for next year. Get your equipment ready. I can still take orders but you will have to come to my farm to pick it up. Allow plenty of time for shipping. Everything is taking longer than it used to. Let me know if you want bees. As I have said before, if I can’t supply you from my own, I will connect you to a trusted beekeeper. I hope to offer more classes. Thinking about one on how to raise your own queens on a small scale. And I know for certain I will be making a video on how to build a proper bear fence. That’s all for now beeks. Stay warm. oh, and spread the word about camp beez kneez if you have taken it, take it if you haven’t and subscribe to my youtube channel if you would :) Happy New year everyone.

DROUGHT=HONEY, MORE BEES MORE PROBLEMS, OXALIC DRIBBLE, WARMER THAN AVERAGE ALL YEAR

So hopefully those of you following this blog were able to look back at other monthly posts to help guide you through the bee season. My apologies for not keeping up. As you know, it has been a tremendous year of transition for The Beez Kneez. I am sure you know many that have upended lives, made big changes, business as usual was disrupted. The era of the COVID is one, unfortunately that we will never forget. On the other hand, one must find the silver lining, the good out of the bad and move forward stronger as a result. Beekeeping is no different. You will make mistakes, you will lose a hive, and you will probably beat yourself up a little or a lot. The beekeepers that eventually succeed, pick up their hive tools the next year and learn how to be better beekeepers.

If I had one word to sum up this beekeeping season it would be Honey! It was a record year for us at Beez Kneez. I still don’t have my final totals but I can tell you it is probably my best if not a close second. What data I have collected suggests 100lb average. And those of you who started hives on new equipment, should have seen the bees really draw out wax. I was shocked. I thought for sure the drought would have an adverse affect but their was enough moisture left over from the winter and spring combined with the heat made for a lot of nectar. I really worry about next year. We really need more rain and snow. If the same drought conditions happen in 2022, I’m afraid the nectar flow will not materialize. November is starting off with some cold days but highs in the mid 50’s for this weekend?! And dandelions blooming again?! Oye.

WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING IN NOVEMBER 2021

My biggest concern is the colonies losing too much weight before real winter sets in. I saw yellow pollen coming in just a few days ago. While I am happy the bees are finding food, I really want them to go to bed for real. With the extension of the season, my bee behavior compass is a bit out of whack. But logic would tell you that the bees are in major slow down mode because there is not any nectar and very little pollen. Final patches of brood have hatched or are hatching this week. The bees needed to keep the hive healthy and sustained through winter are being born and on hives with Hygenic behavior, are kicking out sick pupae and dead bees. Drones are being expelled from the hives for the most part but I have noticed some that are keeping the boys around a little longer. A common trait in Russian hives that get going faster in the spring. For the most part though, the bees are clustered at night and breaking cluster during the day. Some flying during the really sunny, warm parts of the day.

What is the Beekeeper doing in November 2021

More bees, more problems is something I say a lot. And I hope this isn’t confusing. Sometimes I mean the number of hives you keep and sometimes I mean the number of bees in the hives. I like having big healthy hives. It makes me feel good most of the time. However, in my experience, a big hive that overwinters and makes a lot of honey that does not get a brood break in the summer at some point-spilt or swarm, ends up with mite loads that make you want to scream. For the most part, the overwintered hives that I split and got a new queen, kept mites low. Those that had the original queen from the year before, minus a few outliers that have shown mite resistance, exploded with mites and I spent the whole late summer and early fall checking and treating with formic pro. At this point, some of them look ok, some of them already fell apart and absconded and some have very small clusters and little hope of survival. Because of the high honey year, we will have a high mite year and it is for this reason, I will give everyone oxalic dribble this coming week. I have moved away from the vaporizer. The dribble is much safer for the beekeeper to apply and I have seen mites drop the next day via a sticky board. See the photo above. And as far as the dribble being hard on the bees, I have never lost a queen using this treatment once a year and the collateral damage from the high mites counts this year will be much worse. The other thing I will be doing this month is adding a top piece of insulation between the inner cover and the telescoping cover as well as a mouse guard to the bottom entrance. And when it gets colder and the bees won’t be flying for a few weeks, I will push hives together for the bee buddy system, insulate the sides and wrap them. Check out this article for reminders on bees and thermoregulation, moisture and the need for insulation. https://www.beeculture.com/winter-management/

So March came and went for me pretty fast as I moved ten years of business from Mpls to WI. Up above, I provided a few photos of the process. I was out on March 31st. I am still recovering a little bit but happy to have a new building in process for The Beez Kneez WI to function out of. I hope to show you the finished honey house by my next blog post!

It is April 11th and we are on the cusp of another cool down and chances of snow in some places in MN/WI. A week ago today it was 80 degrees! “Weather whiplash” is what weather man Paul Hunter calls it. After reading my post from last April, we had a similar situation except the high temp was not as high and the snow/cold that fell was more substantial. Overall though, March and early April were pretty mild and based on my blog entries from last year, some of my hives are 1-2 weeks ahead of where they were last year at this time, depending on location. First pollen I saw in WI was on March 22nd and I know it was earlier for my hives in Inver Grove Heights and Fridley. That heat streak we had last week provided a really nice dose of pollen and maple nectar. I could smell it as soon as I walked into the beeyard. Smells fruity and as I inspected a few colonies on the warmer days, I saw a good amount of it in the hives. Even some white frosting on the wax which indicates a nectar flow of some fashion. Woo hoo!

WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING IN MARCH/APRIL?

As I mentioned above, we were fortunate enough to get a nice shot of maple nectar in the hives at the end of March into early April. Some really nice temps above 60 and into 70 and 80 for several days. The bees were also benefitting from several kinds of pollen. In the photo above you can see yellow, orange, green and blue. The combo of nectar and pollen in the hives means baby bees! This is the time of year when the spring turn over is happening. The tired winter forces are starting to be replaced by the brand new spring force. Brood is being reared, foragers are bringing home the bacon and mama queen is keeping the nurse bees busy running the daycare as she continues to provide the next generation for them to raise. They are also gearing up for the real spring flow to take them into reproduction. The maple nectar will only go so far so they can still run out of food between now and the end of the month when dandelions and fruit trees will kick them into gear.

WHAT IS THE BEEKEEPER DOING IN MARCH/APRIL?

It is still incredible to see the variation in strength in hives from apiary to apiary but also within the same apiary. Keep this in mind if you are only keeping a few hives. There will be variation in hives so if you only have one and it is small, it is not always easy to know the reason. This is why we recommend starting with two. If my hives vary and are treated relatively the same and I have 14 years experience beekeeping, it would suggest there are other factors to their size and strength. My strongest hives already have drones, and many frames of brood. These hives could serve as great honey producers or brood producers for making more bees. The hives I see this the most in are from Russian genetics. They are known to build up fast in the spring, even under cooler conditions. These are the only hives I did any management with and that management was adding boxes. Look at the third photo above. I found a medium frame full of capped drones already. i also saw adult drones. This colony was in WI so not in my southern most apiary. Also, I had really poor wintering success in this yard(I am assuming because of wind exposure and some mite drift) But this hive is of Russian genetics, the queen is entering her 3rd summer and is one of my strongest. She is a strong candidate for breeding. A mite check and a hygenic test in May will really determine her fitness.

I still have not given my hives pollen patties and will not do so. This is contrary to many a beekeepers advice right now. However, I am stubborn in my belief that they will do fine with the real deal. I saw plenty of pollen in the hives. I will also NOT reverse hives. I will add room to the hive with an empty deep below or with supers on top. The argument for adding it below is that naturally bees expand down the tree cavity. Also, heat rises and if we get another stretch of cool weather, which we always seem to in mid April, they won’t be overextending their broodnest too quickly above them, forcing bees to spread out more and not be able to heat the existing brood below them. The argument for adding supers above them is from Michael Palmer and it is specifically for large hives that will want to swarm when dandelions start providing so if you get supers on them early, you can prevent that impulse. I am doing a little experiment this year to see which seems to prevent swarming but also which produces the least amount of stress. And I ONLY DID THIS TO THE VERY LARGE HIVES. If the bees are not filling most of the space of the cavity they are in, there is no reason to give them more room or reverse them.

Other things I have been doing management wise are: removing winter wraps but leaving top insulation on, assessing size just by looking at the top of the colony. See the first 2 photos above. That hive was split in late July and wintered as a single. If bees are pouring out of the inner cover hole, the numbers are good! Checking to see if they are queen right(only looking at one or two frames) and combining queenless hives with queenright hives, cleaning out bottom boards and making sure they have enough stores to get them through the rest of spring. We are nearly to the best part of the year! If you are starting new colonies this year on new equipment, remember to stay calm and make sure you feed them enough sugar water to draw out all that wax. For all you beeks who successfully overwintered hives, queen cells will be available end of May early June and we are hoping to organize a class on splitting so say tuned!

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

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Happy New Year everyone! I don’t know about you but all this talk about leaving 2020 behind and looking forward to positive change in 2021 sounds nice, but the pandemic rages on. Day by day is how I am functioning lately. Anytime I get down, I visit the animals on my farm. They know nothing of the tornado of madness we humans are swirling in. The goats bring joy with their playful jumps and sweet faces. The chickens provide endless entertainment. Today I watched as 3 hens sat on their perch and talked to each other. I don’t speak chicken but they would look at each other and make little gestures of sound that would indicate a conversation. And of course, the humming of the bees inside their cozy little microclimate of a hive. It also makes such a difference when the sun comes out. For several days we have been surrounded by the gray wet blanket of winter. On the warmer side but not very compatible to happy thoughts. Looks like some cold weather is moving in briefly for a few days this week but the mild winter trend is continuing into January.

What are the bees doing in january 2021

We are past the winter solstice and are now gaining 2 minutes of sunlight every day. Yippee! The bees have started the process of rearing new bees to take over in the spring. If the queen lays eggs today, they will hatch on the 7th of February. This is when winter stores will start to be used for raising young. This means more consumption of food stores as more energy is needed to raise the temperature and feed the young than in maintaining the winter cluster. The bees born today will likely be out foraging by the time pollen appears from the maple trees in late March or early April. Just under 40 days till March! This is the time of year beekeepers start to get excited and a little nervous. However, if viruses from mites were bad enough, your hives would likely be dead by now. That does not mean they are out of the woods. Last year, I lost 25 of 100 hives between December and March. They could still succumb to starvation or small cluster size. The brood nest is only able to expand if they have enough bees to keep the temperature at that optimal 94.4F that is required to rear brood. Also, issues of dysentery due to honey stores that are too wet(bees were not able to cure nectar or sugar syrup before winter) can lead to problems in the spring. Reference the hive above with all the brown in the snow. Some brown spots are normal as they take cleansing flights throughout the winter but what is pictured above is not a normal amount of bee poo. These bees have a bad case of dysentery which could lead to Nosema, a fungal infection in their gut that can shorten their lifespan and even kill the colony. I fully anticipate this hive to have issues in the spring if it manages to make it until then. However, there is nothing I can do about it now.

What is the beekeeper doing in January 2021

Beekeeping has been a great teacher for me in remembering what I have control of and what I don’t. It has also taught me that the investment of time and energy put into something earlier rather than later, will pay off during a time when you don’t have the opportunity anymore. The bees are on their own schedule and taking cues from nature as well as the health of the hive. If we can follow their lead more, it will make us all better beekeepers. With that said, besides the occasional visit to the bees to listen for life, there is nothing that should or can be done in the hive this time of year. I used to add feed on warm days in January or other months of the winter. After 12 years experience wintering bees in the north, I have learned to wait till March to even think about adding food. I am sorry if I have told you otherwise. We are always learning with the bees. Remember that when you listen to experts. We are all always learning from the bees. Thats why we ove them so! Check out this very helpful temp guide from Dorothey Morgan of Kentucky queen breeders.

Up until the solstice, bees only consume about 1 pound of food per week. If winter starts in mid-October, by December 21st they will have only lost about 10 pounds. This might vary a little depending on weather but if you did your job right in the fall, and made sure they had enough stores then, they should have no problem with starvation.

Also, there has been more and more evidence coming out supporting the theory that bees do not benefit from a top entrance in winter. In fact, they loose a lot of heat from the cluster and necessary moisture to help them eat honey in th winter. Just look at the thermal picture above. The whitest part is the hottest part. Notice the white circle around the entrance! I highly recommend you watch this video by a beekeeper in the Yukon who has been collecting data on his hives. The Yukon is one of the harshest places to keep bees. His insight on thermal dynamics in a hive is eye opening. If you need ventilation, the best spot for a small hole to provide for cleansing flights is actually in the middle of the box or by using a screened bottom board as long as the have empty space below. I have been able to achieve this by using old deeps as my hive stands.

So moral of the story is that in January, plan for next year, build equipment so it is ready in the spring, order more bees if you wish to expand or if you have already lost yours. Take a walk to listen to your bees but don’t disrupt they hive. IF you watch the video I linked above, you will understand why. Takes them several days to normalize the cluster after knocking! I used to do this all the time. Instead, I invested in a thermal camera or I listen really carefully. If I can’t hear them, i wait till spring. They could be tucked in the back.

Also, this beekeeper is preparing for the season in some major ways. After almost 8 years running the Beez Kneez honey house at 2200 Minnehaha Ave Minneapolis, MN, as of April 1st, I will be closing this location and moving my headquarters to my farm in western, WI. What does this mean? I will still produce and sell delicious, Pure, raw honey extracted by bicycle, I will still teach beekeeping classes and Camp Beez Kneez, Manage a few hives with existing Urban Apiary partners in Mpl/St.paul and I will sell equipment from my partners at Betterbee as long as it is feasible. I plan to increase my capacity selling nucs and queens but that will take some time.

it is bitter sweet but I have to recognize what I have control over and what I don’t. In order to keep my business alive during a global pandemic which I have no control over, i can no longer operate in Mpls. I must adjust, pay attention to the health of the hive and learn from what the bees are trying to tell me. They have gotten me this far, i trust they will take me into the future as long as I keep listening.

Mild winter so far, to wrap or not to wrap, mice and propolis, oh my!

The other day, my weather man Paul Hunter said that we have not had a true white christmas for 4 of the last 6 years. The trend seems to be leaning towards more mild winters in the northland. in fact, my poor niece has a birthday in december and every year has to cancel her plans for a sledding party because of the lack of snow. Not a terrible thing for wintering bees but less winter can mean more mite problems if bees end up with too many extra brood cycles. Granted that would only happen on the other end of winter when they start laying and if pollen stores were to replenish earlier in the spring. Even though, the last sighting I had of pollen on the bees was on November 8th this year! It was orange in color and I spotted it at Inver Grove Heights. january and February could be real winter weather, but with covid raging in all of our communities, I will take a mild december to be able to go visit the bees without freezing my toosh off! I got out yesterday for a quick visit to some apiaries delighted from the faint buzzing sound coming from the hives.

WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING IN November/December?

the bees are pretty much in their dormancy period. Clustering to stay warm and eating only when they need a little more energy to continue heating their cluster. I really like the way the winter cluster is explained by beekeeper William Hesbach “As an interlaced cluster they form a naturally efficient insulation cooperative” Check out his article on wintering bees. He goes into the science of thermoregulation of the cluster and hive and talks about the different way beekeepers wrap their hives and the logic behind it. this article challenged me to experiment a little with ventilation as well as wrapping or just trying out the “Bee Buddy System” pushing all the hives together, as I mentioned in my October Blog post. I also did one yard with all insulated winter wraps to see if I could identify a major difference between tar paper and the insulated black wraps we sell at the shop. Remember, we are quicky approaching the winter solstice. More sun for longer in the day means happier people but also more active queens. a small amount of egg laying will resume and then only a few months to first pollen! pop quiz, if the queen starts laying on December 21st, how many brood cycles till first pollen if it happens in mid march?

WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING IN November/December?

If you haven’t fully winterized/wrapped your colony, now is the time. taking into consideration the mild weather, I just finished wrapping yesterday. I also added mouse guards to those that I missed. This should be done sooner. Make sure you shine a flashlight in the bottom to make sure you don’t trap any mice inside. However, if you have really strong bees, they might do what they did to the poor creature in the photo above. I was both disgusted and excited to find this critter with its face stuck with propolis in between the frames. Marla Spivak used to talk about this happening but I had never seen it in real life. Wednesday it will be a high of 50 degrees. Go visit your bees if you can. They should be flying by then. I would love if you all sent me photos or let me know if they are still alive. Remember, if they make it to New Years, you did a good job keeping your mite levels down and they have a really good chance of making it to spring as long as they don’t run out of food. I would be especially curious of those who bought bees from me last year.

This time of year is about reflecting on last year and planning for next year. Ask yourself some questions. Do I want to grow? Do you have too many bees and want to cut back?(If this is the case, please call me! I will buy frames of bees and brood from you in May if they are alive and well in march) What kind of equipment will I need? I think this one is important because you never know what supplies will be like in the spring and you want to have everything ready to go when the bees wake up or your new hive/s arrives at your beeyard in 2021. What questions do you still have from the season before? perhaps attend some beekeeping seminars online in which there are many these days because of covid or maybe join us for the 2021 season of camp beez kneez! Wink wink. Also, did you find a better spot for your bees? Now is the time to move your hive. Before it is too cold and before it is too warm. 35-45f is ideal for moving bees. They Won’t fly but not too tightly clustered.

In early November, I applied oxalic vapor to all of my hives. I found one tagged by a graffiti artist as you can see above. it was in fridley where hives have been knocked over before. I prefer the graffiti to knocking over but it makes me nervous that someone was there. i have identified a few potential candidates for breeding next year. One at my common Harvest yard in Osceola, WI, one at my lily springs yard in Osceola, WI and one at my yard in Inver Grove heights, MN. All three of these hives kept mites low all season long, made honey and were gentle. The only treatment they got was the oxalic vapor in the fall. I did this because the other hives in the apiary had mites and i wanted to make sure they had a good chance of survival. Remember, you get a free queen cell from these hives with your membership. Also, I am part of some exciting planning around working with some other experienced beekeepers to pool together our best stock to make summer nucs for sale to beekeepers like yourselves. Stay tuned!

REALLY 2020? SNOW IN MID-OCTOBER, THE BUDDY SYSTEM AND DON’T PANIC, OH MY!

Ok 2020, what gives? Apparently nothing! everything has to be a just a little extra hard this year, wouldn’t ya say? Last year our temps dipped significantly the last week of October which is still too early but this year, the middle of the month? Really? And a snow storm to boot? Check out the photo of my drone larva fed chickens taking their first march in the snow. I had to carry four of them back to the coop as they had never seen such a site before and were not sure what to do about it. Anyway, enough complaining. That is not what winter hardy folk are supposed to do and the temps will be rebounding by the end of the week. Yes, highs in the 50’s in the forecast for the 1st week of November.

WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING IN OCTOBER

THE HIVE’S WINTER BEES FROM THE FINAL FRAMES OF BROOD ARE HATCHING, THE LAST MORSELS OF POLLEN AND NECTAR(MOSTLY SUGAR IF YOU WERE FEEDING) ARE BEING STORED AND THE FINAL DRONES ARE BEING KICKED OUT. SOME COLONIES KEEP JUST A FEW DRONES IN THE COLONY YEAR ROUND. I JUST SAW ONE THE OTHER DAY AS I WAS REMOVING MY LAST SUGAR PALES. ON WARMER DAYS, THEY ARE TAKING CLEANSING FLIGHTS BUT FOR THE MOST PART THEY ARE CLUSTERING AND SLOWING DOWN.

WHAT SHOULD THE BEEKEEPER BEE DOING

LIKE I MENTIONED ABOVE, I HAVE PULLED ALL MY FEEDING PAILS FROM THE HIVES. ANY HIVES THAT WERE STILL LIGHT, I TOOK NOTE AND WILL ADD SOME DRIED SUAGR OR WINTER PATTIES IN THE SPRING. SOME BEEKEEPERS ADD DRIED SUGAR AS AN INSURANCE BEFORE WINTER. MY FRIEND MERRY HAD 100%WINTER SURVIVAL ON HER 17 HIVES LAST YEAR. I HAVE INCLUDED PICTURES BELOW OF HER PROCESS OF USING A QUILT BOX WITH DRIED SUGAR INSIDE FOR YOU TO SEE.

I TRIED NOT TO PANIC WHEN THE WEATHER FIRST COOLED DOWN AND THE SNOW CAME. THERE WAS NO WAY FOR ME TO GET OUT AND WRAP EVERYONE IN TIME AND I KNEW IT WOULD WARM BACK UP AGAIN SO I DECIDED THAT MY PRIORITIES WOULD BE MOISTURE BOARDS, CLOSING ANY UNNECESSARY ENTRANCES( LEAVING OPEN THE SMALLEST ENTRANCE ON THE BOTTOM AND ONE SMALL ENTRANCE IN THE INNERCOVER) AND PLACING MOUSE GUARDS ON THE BOTTOM ENTRANCE(STAPLED A SMALL SQUARE OF 1/4 INCH HARDWARE IN FRONT OF HOLE. EVERY HIVE GOT A PIECE OF R5 INSULATION WITH DUCT TAPE OVER THE SPOT WHERE THE INNER COVER IS SO THE BEES DON’T CHEW IT UP. I HAVE INCLUDED A PIC ABOVE. I ALSO MOVED ALL OF MY COLONIES CLOSE TOGETHER FOR WIND PROTECTION AND HEAT EXCHANGE “THE BUDDY SYSTEM.” THIS YEAR, I PLAN TO LEAVE ONE YARD WITHOUT BLACK WRAP BUT MOVED CLOSE TOGETHER TO SEE IF I CAN SUBSTITUTE THE BUDDY SYSTEM FOR FULL WRAPPING. THERE ARE DIFFERENT THEORIES ON WRAPPING AND WHETHER IT MATTERS AND IS GOOD OR BAD. ONE THEORY IS THAT IT IS HARMFUL TO HAVE THEM HEAT UP TOO MUCH DURING THE DAY AND THEN GET CHILLED AT NIGHT. A FRIEND MONITORED TEMP IN HIS COLONIES THROUGH THE ENTIRE WINTER AND SAW VERY LITTLE TEMPERATURE CHANGE INSIDE RELATIVE TO OUTSIDE TEMP CHANGES. ONE CAVEAT: THIS WAS DONE WITH NUCS WHICH ARE SMALLER IN SIZE THAN THE AVERAGE DOUBLE DEEP. THE ARGUMENT FOR WRAPPING IS THAT DURING THE REALLY COLD MONTHS, IT ALLOWS THE CLUSTER TO MOVE ENOUGH DURING THE DAY TO REACH FOOD IT MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO REACH IF NOT WRAPPED. ANOTHER CLEAR AS MUD PRACTICE IN THE WORLD OF BEEKEEPING!

WHEN IT HEATS UP, MY LAST BEEKEEPING TASK OF THE SEASON WILL BE TO WRAP AND GIVE THE HIVES ONE LAST TREATMENT OF OXALIC ACID USING THE VAPOR OR DRIBBLE METHOD. THE IDEA BEHIND THIS TREATMENT IS THAT IT SHOULD ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR A SPRING TREATMENT. IF MITES WERE HIGH IN THE FALL AND NOT ADDRESSED IN TIME, THE DAMAGE MAY BE DONE. HERE IS AN ARTICLE THAT TALKS ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF OXALC ACID AND THE DIFFERENT METHODS

MERRY REIMLER’S DRY SUGAR QUILT BOX FOR WINTER FEEDING

MERRY REIMLER'S QUILT BOX

Hardware cloth to keep mice out

Large desktop paper calendar so she doesn't have to worry about size of paper

Mouse Guard

Sugar poured through hardware cloth

Canvas painting cloth over the sugar

Wood shavings to collect moisture

Saran wrap and tape to keep draft out

WILD AMERICA, MILD WINTER to STRONG SUMMER/FALL NECTAR FLOW, OH MY!

You can smell it in the air, in the hives, you can see it in the sky and the golden landscape. The sweet calm of autumn helps us breath for a minute among the madness of the world. Before this latest cool down, this fall has been lovely and productive for our little ladies. The low temperature where I live this week will be 36 degrees! No no no, too early! That is a mere 4 degrees away from freezing and I am not ready. Although it is a nice break from heavy work outside, the bees need a dependable and gradual fall to adequately prepare for the long dark night. However, this shall pass and the forecast looks warm and pleasant next week. Phew! I really can’t handle another year where we transition right into winter. Especially this year.

I just finished reading the blog posts from August and September of 2019. To bee honest, it sounds very similar to this year. I encourage you to go back and read it! The biggest difference is what happened last winter combined with this summer. Last winter was mild and hive survival was strong. Combine that with a strong and heavy nectar flow of this summer/fall, and you have more brood cycles and therefore a higher mite load overall. If we have a tough winter, could be devastating for hive mortality numbers. But that is the pessimist/realist in me. The optimist says take care of your mites early and make sure the hives have plenty of stores and they will be alright!

WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING IN AUGUST/SEPTEMBER?

In most but not all locations, the bees have been responding to warm, humid weather and a strong nectar flow of goldenrod, asters and some other wildflowers that provide abundant stores of pollen and nectar for winter. Some hives decided to swarm! Some hives are replacing older queens via supersceeding which can be frustrating for the beekeeper. I have personally mistaken these queen events for swarms based on the number of queen cells in the hives but in returning, I found that the population had not changed, just the presence of my original queen. In talking to another beek, he speculated that maybe bees with Russian genetics are more predisposed to do this at this time of year to start spring with a young queen. I will update you in my October blog about their success in mating a new queen this time of year. A strong nectar flow will help but I worry about the number of drones left in the hives. We shall see! Remember, in both scenarios, there is little you can do this time of year but wait it out. Let them sort out the queen event. The more digging you do during this time, the more damage. Like you end up with a laying worker or a drone layer.

Other than queen events, the bees are focused on pollen collection to store for winter into spring to feed next years kin. They are collecting and curing nectar and organizing their nest accordingly. The egg laying is slowing down but the winter bees are still being born and so are the mites!

WHAT SHOULD THE BEEKEEPER BEE DOING IN AUGUST/SEPTEMBER?

We are in the homestretch of hive inspections. I hope to do my last in hive inspections by the end of this week. What am I looking for? Mite checks of course, evidence of a queen via eggs(remember, you don’t have to physically see her!), food stores and any last effort management. Mainly, identifying hives with too little bees and/or food stores and combining with others. Depending on your size, this will not apply to you. Some newer beeks have been reaching out to me lately about not having much honey in the bottom deep. This is not abnormal to find as the bees are storing honey above them. Ideally, they will have a few frames of honey on the outside frames in the bottom box but I have noticed that not all hives will do this. If you find this in your hive, feed a few gallons of 2:1 syrup to get them to fill out the hives more. Most of my hives are pretty full of nectar at this point and because of a better than average honey harvest, I was ok leaving more honey for the bees.

Mites however, have been a problem and I have been checking and treating when above threshold religiously. I have several hives that I tested and treated in early August only to find them above threshold again 3-4 weeks later. Very frustrating but we must keep on top of it. And this is not the case with every hive! Some locations or hives are better than others. Last year, Inver Grove Heights was the problem area. This year, it is Fridley. They completely switched from last year. Don’t get discouraged if this is happening to you too. Just make sure they are low by the middle of this month. Even though the recommended treatment threshold is 9/300, it does not mean your hive will die if it tests higher than that. I have had hives test at 30-50/300 and still make it through winter after treating.

Also, an important reminder that is coming to you too late but was reinforced to me this year as a result of selling bees to new beekeepers with all new equipment. Even though we had strong nectar flow, you still must feed 1:1 sugar syrup to your bees until they draw all your frames out with wax. They simply don’t have the field force to do so on their own. My apologies for this. I should have been more forceful in this advice. If you are one of these beekeepers and you have barely any frames in the box above the bees drawn out, I would encourage you to consolidate the bees into the box/boxes that have all drawn frames and feed until they are heavy. 70lbs for single deep, 130, if a double deep.

And remember, the 5 things to successful wintering: a healthy population of bees, a young, healthy queen, mite control, moisture control, and enough food stores.

learning from the bees, honey harvest, healthy winter bees, oh my

Oops, I did it again! Somehow June and July always whiz by as fast as a worker bee returning to the hive. It takes a rainy day to get me inside to write this blog. My apologies Club Beez Kneezers. Hopefully you were able to reference back to last year and make management decisions based on my posts from those months. I probably don’t have to remind you that things outside the beeyard have been challenging and heart breaking. The world is sick and on fire. Honestly, my mind has been elsewhere as the events of the last 6 months have unfolded but not unrelated to bees. As a social science major in college, I was awoken to issues of racial injustice and inequality globally and in the US but growing up, our history was taught on very white and sanitary pages of books authored by one view which clashed with the very real, racist underbelly of my hometown. It took taking out copious amounts of student loans and traveling the world to start to get an education and see the truth. Since that awakening, I have been on a journey to play my part in making the world a better place. Since that awakening, I knew that at some point, things would boil over and need to be dealt with. Add to that a global pandemic stemming from an imbalance between humans and the natural world, you have a perfect storm. Finding honeybees and beekeeping have been an instrumental part of this journey. Their struggle with the imbalance of the natural world and humans and our dependence on them for food, struck a cord and there was no turning back. The fact that our food system was built on the backs of black and brown people via slavery and then replaced by an industrialized, chemical dependent agriculture that fills the pockets of the rich and poisons everything and everyone else, is reinforced by the honey bee. I was inspired by their ability to function as a super organism and society. A true democracy led by women. Each bee has a job to do but they work together for the health of the whole society, not just one individual bee. In my eyes, this is what makes them strong and amazing. And that is what I learn from everyday. What should we bee doing? As you spend time with your bees and learn about their biology, remember that they have way more to teach us and than we have answers for them. It just takes listening to what they need and changing the way your behavior puts them at risk. From how you spend your money, to who you vote for, to the way you treat others. Bees teach us that every action matters, no matter how small. And as a beekeeper, if you do something that disrupts and threatens the hive, you get stung. They sacrifice themselves for that reminder.

WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING IN JUNE/JULY?

Since my last blog in mid May to now, the bees have been building populations, producing wax to draw out comb, collecting lots of nectar to fill their nest with honey with the goal of reproducing or as we call it, swarming! They have also been replacing old or sick queens or as we call it, supersedure. I find telling the the difference to be confusing at times. Although not always completely true, one common way to tell the difference is the number of queen cells before either queen event and then the number of bees after the queen event. Also, in the event of a supersedure, it takes way less time to have a queen again. Typically 2 weeks as opposed to 4 weeks. This article explains a bit more about queen cells. Remember, the best thing to do in either event is to wait. Do not add a new queen. It is safer and cheaper to add a frame of eggs from another colony or a queen cell if you can get access to one. This is why it is super helpful and recommended to always keep 2 colonies. If your hive is unsuccessful in producing a new queen, you can end up with a laying worker. This is when a hive is hopelessly queenless and workers start to lay eggs. Check out this description here with tips on how to fix it. As we enter the last weeks of July, the main summer nectar flow is slowing down. There are sill plenty of flowers blooming and I have noticed the nectar flow amounts varying in some places. The bees are curing honey and soon the queen will start laying her winter bees. So what does this mean for the beekeeper?

WHAT IS THE BEEKEEPER DOING IN JUNE/JULY?

In June and early July, I have been trying to get boxes on in time before hard and intense nectar flows get to them first. I have been successful in most areas because of splitting in May but for some super strong colonies, late June and early July, this has not been enough. I did have a few swarms that got away from me at my beeyard at home. easy to get discouraged but overall, the bees are looking good and have made a good crop of honey so far. In late June, I grafted larva from VSH (varrora sensitive Hygiene) Harbo breeder queen attained by my friend Adrian Quiney. “Bees with the VSH trait express mite resistance by disrupting mite reproduction in worker brood that is aged 4-6 days post-capping.” So the bees sense the mites in the brood and remove infested pupae. I took splits from bigger colonies and made about 20 5 frame nucs to overwinter and gave them these queen cells. These nucs will help me improve the genetics in my operation and offer a brood break to these new colonies. I also decided to requeen some mediocre production colonies that were not keeping mites low. Some accepted my requeen with a queen cell, some made there own. But they all got brood breaks limiting my need for using a mite treatment. Beekeeping is a series or experiments! ALSO, I HAVE 32 QUEEN CELLS THAT WILL BE READY ON SATURDAY. THESE QUEENS WILL BE USED TO break down my big production colonies before winter. This allows me to overwinter with smaller hives and break the mite cycle. I will also be pulling the majority of my honey to harvest. That way, any fall nectar will be for the bees. If we don’t have a fall flow, feeding will be necessary. I will leave any supers that are not totally cured which will allow time for this and necessary room in the colony

I would recommend checking your mites this wee/weekend and treating if necessary-if your sample is 9/300 bees. As we know from recent research, mites feed on the fat bodies of the bees which are crucial for the longer lives they must live in the winter. If Fall is when the mites jump, I want to be ahead of the problem before it a problem. I have already checked many hives. The highest number I found was 20/300 mites. I gave them a full dose of Formic. I will requeen these hives with mite resistant queens and continue to check those that tested low. Why not treat everyone? Mite treatments can be hard on the colony and I want to identify those that are able to keep mites low. I have also been splitting and doing Drone Comb removal all summer. This truly helps keep levels down but it does not account for your neighbors activities. and robbing season is right around the corner. If you have only a few hives, get a robbing screen to help during this time. We sell them at the honey house. Along with Formic PRo, Mite Away quick strips and oxalic acid.

So far the month has been pretty nice weather-wise. A long spring again with less cold then last year. Although we have had a few set backs and a streak of frosty days last week, the bees have been building up nicely. Dandelions are still going strong in Western, WI and the fruit trees started about a week ago. Wild plum, cherries, apples and wild lilac. Spring is here and the bees know it. Pollen and fresh nectar are abundant in the landscape and the temps are about to HEat up. Do you know what that means? Nectar explosion!

WHAT ARE THE BEES DOING IN MAY?

With all these resources present, bees are starting to think about the naughty but beautiful and advantageous s-word. Swarming! If you have a strong, populated colony that overwintered, it already has been or will be thinking of hitting the trees. Remember, this is the beehives natural urge to reproduce. Drones are being reared, the queen has laid up most of the frames with brood and the spring turn over of bees has come and gone. They raise numerous queen cells hoping for the best results. Meanwhile, the scout bees are out searching for a new home. On a nice, sunny, warm day, the old mama leaves with half the workers and her daughter takes over after stabbing her would be sisters to take reign of the hive.

WHAT IS THE BEEKEEPER DOING IN MAY?

If you have a hive that wintered, keep on top of the swarming impulse I mentioned. This spring is very different than last year in that the swarming impulse was not as strong as it is now. The rain will stop tonight and the sun will come out tomorrow. Go check your hives. Lift the top brood box and look between the boxes. If you see them starting cells, do something. You can make more bees by doing a split with their cell, you can crush all queen cells(make sure you check for eggs before you do this!) and add supers if you want to wait for a Beez Kneez queen cell next weekend or the 31st of May. Or make multiple splits if you have the inclination and the equipment to do so. This part of beekeeping is really addictive for me. Making more bees and raising queens is so rewarding and you can get really good results if you do it right! I would recommend reading this article written by my friend Dr. Meghan Milbrath on swarms. Also, read back to my blog post from May 2019. It lays out how to do a split and talks about other management you should be doing in May. And I would recommend doing a mite check. Colonies are supposed to have low mite counts in the spring but I have had some surprise high numbers already. You have to stay on top of this…hence why I add a drone comb as early as possible. In the photo above you can see one I removed a few days ago that is ripe and needs to be removed and replaced, along with all the mites inside of it.

If you are getting a new hive in a few weeks from me or someone else, you should be making sure your equipment is prepped and ready to go. Frames built, boxes painted, all the items you need to make sure the bees will be happy in their new home. Your goal with this new hive is to get that comb drawn and full of resources to make it through next winter. You might make a honey crop if we have a good year so also have your queen excluders and supers ready just in case! I have been working hard to get queens ready for the nucs I am selling and the hives I will be splitting. I also started teaching Camp Beez Kneez COVID- Style so my life is a bit chaotic right now. If you try and reach me and it takes a few days, know that I am trying to get back to you as soon as I can. May and June are crucial months for getting your bees set up right. So put it in the hard work now so you can go swimming in July!