signs of spring!!

[yooperdave]

well, the storm missed me! it was coming up from the south and just didn't have enough push to overcome the high pressure that was coming down from canada. ended up with no snow at all! just windy and cold today and last night.
maybe thats why the robins showed up yesterday...just to leave from where the storm would hit.
south of us got about 12-14 inches, though. haha, too bad! they can have it!
this time of year, it won't take long to melt.

 

[yooperdave]

c'mon spring! we had -12f this fri a.m. at least the next few days are sunny

 

[moosetrek]

The dogs are definitely noticing spring, as far as they're concerned longer days means more time to play ball after work. Of course, that involves more time to clean the mud up afterwards but it's still a nice change, and won't be long before cool summer evenings on the porch, a hammock sounds like a good spring project after reading yooperdave and kathleen's posts.

 

[yooperdave]

moosetrek- just might need an electric hammock...i had -10f last night. tonight should be no warmer! we had a nice spurt of spring, but it only lasted for 3-4 days....i know-patience...it'll be back.

 

[yooperdave]

hoo-ray! last night was the first night that the temp stayed above zero! overnight was +1f...still, its above zero, right?
the ice on the lake is now down to 21" thick...and, a mallard drake-in all his splendor-was on the ice next to some open water from one of the lake's inlets. probably only 13-15 feet wide by about 40-45 feet long...but its still open water!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

An ice cream truck just drove by my house... That should qualify as spring since we had snow storm warnings all over the place for late last week.

Matt

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

ice cream. yummmmm.

I checked out my hive today for the first time this season. I didn't think they would survive the winter. In the fall they had (I thought) nosema (=very bad) plus almost no honey stored. I just stopped even looking at them waited for them to die. Come January there was a warmish day and they were out! I started feeding them, put up some pollen patties, and kept my fingers crossed.

Went in today and found my queen I'm hoping she's not last year's queen, but a replacement because I wasn't thrilled with last years. Either way, it's my first year I've successfully overwintered bees. My very first year I had a really strong colony and they all died from someone in the area spraying pesticide.

I've ordered 2 more packages of bees. I decided it was the year to up the ante. I'll have to get some pics when I install them. I'm also getting a nuc (smaller hive) from a guy up the mountain from me. Spring is here

 

[EatenByLimestone]

What would be the odds of successfully starting a new hive if you just built one and set it by the old one? Don't they breed and send off new queens every year? Why wouldn't they just take up residence in the new one?

Matt

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

What would be the odds of successfully starting a new hive if you just built one and set it by the old one? Don't they breed and send off new queens every year? Why wouldn't they just take up residence in the new one?

Matt

Not exactly. They only make a new queen if they lose their queen, are unhappy with their queen, if she is getting too old, or if the hive is getting to full and they are getting ready to swarm.

If the hive was getting very full the old queen will leave with a bunch of the bees, leaving the new queen with the rest of the bees. This is called swarming. This is when you see them in a ball on trees, or any random places. They are sending out scouts to find a new spot for a hive. Theoretically if you had an empty hive body nearby they might go there. More likely not. Beeks will try all kinds of strategies to prevent swarming. The most common one is splitting the hive before they swarm or putting frames of brood (baby bees in the cell) in another hive that is not as strong.

If I had a really strong hive that I thought was going to swarm and I put some frames of brood and bees into a new hive body, they would raise a queen. Essentially all babies are fed royal jelly for the first three days. After that, only a baby queen gets it. Continuing to get fed the royal jelly produces physiological changes that produce a queen. When they know they don't have a queen for whatever reason, if there are eggs laid from the missing queen they can go ahead and successfully raise a new queen. Hence the "nuc" or small hive I am getting from that guy. It ensures that I have a back up source of eggs as long as the nuc queen is viable. Clear as mud? :lol:

It's fascinating and I could spend a lifetime with these bees and still be learning all the time. Maybe you are sorry you asked.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Not at all. I think bees are something we all take for granted.

Matt

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Here's another:

She's calling it an "appa", but apples are a sign of fall.

Matt

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

CUTE

Forgot to mention, another reason I thought my bees wouldn't survive is because I didn't have many left and there's a critical mass that they need to get through the winter. The get in a ball in the middle of the hive. If there aren't enough bees the ball isn't big enough and they freeze.

 

[begreen]

Wish you were close by, I would invite you to keep some hives here. I miss the little ladies. Where did you order from? What type of bees?

 

[begreen]

ice cream. yummmmm.

I checked out my hive today for the first time this season. I didn't think they would survive the winter. In the fall they had (I thought) nosema (=very bad) plus almost no honey stored. I just stopped even looking at them waited for them to die. Come January there was a warmish day and they were out! I started feeding them, put up some pollen patties, and kept my fingers crossed.

Went in today and found my queen I'm hoping she's not last year's queen, but a replacement because I wasn't thrilled with last years. Either way, it's my first year I've successfully overwintered bees. My very first year I had a really strong colony and they all died from someone in the area spraying pesticide.

I've ordered 2 more packages of bees. I decided it was the year to up the ante. I'll have to get some pics when I install them. I'm also getting a nuc (smaller hive) from a guy up the mountain from me. Spring is here

Wish you were close by, I would invite you to keep some hives here. I miss the little ladies. Where did you order from? What type of bees?