Ready for Spring
Can you smell the flowers?
I can smell some of them. Well sometimes I can, I can also not smell sometimes and that also means they're flowering. I rode my bike downtown today and saw a great big Maple tree flush with bright red flowers. Maple trees are one of the first large sources of pollen for bees in the middle of winter. The pollen is important for raising young bees, and even though a hive might have pollen in storage, they might not raise many new bees without a constant source. So Maple pollen means Game On.
There is still freezing in the forecast, but most of the brakes are letting off. Never mind the calendar, this is when Spring starts in beekeeping. There is so much to do.
Talking with other beekeepers in the area, I'm not alone in saying that last year was a hard one. It was a decent year for honey. We bottled about a hundred pounds, and made new friends selling it. That's always great, but there was a great tinge of bitterness in it that went beyond a not-growth year for honey output. Hive losses were staggering. I wrote a post last year about wax moths and hive beetles, and thought I was exorcising a few demons by airing my dirty laundry but I was absolutely not through it. I stopped counting so that I wouldn't get so down about the total losses, but also because I -not kidding- lost more hives than I started the season with.
I had good plans for steady growth, and even though most of my plans were foiled, I still managed to raise up several queens, and caught several swarms. I was provided for in the midst of my failings, and I recognize that a lot of my "wins" were handed to me last year. It was a learning season. That's a positive and generous spin on it right?
On My List
I'll build in public for this, I have a few things that aren't yet all done, but I want to be accountable to you dear reader, watch this space for:
- Mites! forensics to see what killed my bees leads to finding some nasty tag-alongs
- Events! I'm working on some opportunities to share beekeeping with small audiences, if you want to know more, - email
- possibly some nerdy bee stuff, sciencey or computery, but not too icky
- New Bee Yard - in search of nectar
- Grafting Queens - we're doing it big time this year
What's flowering?
Rosemary, Henbit, Maple, Cherries, Dandylion, Citrus, Heath
Bee Chores
I've been feeding bees to support their build-up, which is what we call it when they raise up babies by the hundreds, and make new comb to get ready for more bees and more honey.
Mid-week, I peeked in and saw a few drone cells, which means the boys are almost back, and I can begin raising up queens.
Threats
Hive beetles are hounding my little hive, and I can't put on pollen patties with so many beetles so I need to get beetle traps in place.
note to self -add pictures Added!