Home
March news 2010
March is here and in this month a typical beekeeper will check his hives on a warmer 40F day to see if they need more food to survive the spring. Most people don't know this but the hardest time for animal survival is not mid winter its the early spring. This is the time of the year when all the reserves have been used up and all the plants have withered completly.
Same can be true for the bees, they start winter with several full boxes of honey and slowly work their way up to the top of the hive. The way a beekeeper tests for hive health when it's cold involves lifting the hive a small amount to see how heavy it is with honey. If it's too light he then waits for a warm day to feed sugar or possibly some frames from a hive that somehow died. Several of my hives did not make the winter due to poor ventilation. In an experiment I decided not to prop the top cover up and instead leave the screened bottom open. That did not work well and several of my colonies got wet and too cold. On the bright side I have more honey to sell, but the funds from this will be used to purchase new bees. Also I have found some minnisota hygenic breeds that may be more cold tolerant which I'm looking forward to trying.
The spring bee release day will be April 3. I will be releasing 7 packages into new hives that day weather permitting. Feel free to email me if you would like to attend. it will be in the afternoon probably near 3-4 oclock.
more later,
Dan
Next page: Our products