Theo jr will be heading to the winter bee yards to check on the bees around January 15th. What will he be looking for? What should you look for if you are overwintering your own bees?
- Population - how many bees are there, are they strong looking, are they clustered or are they randomly walking around the hive?
- Food stores - this is very important at this time of year. Do they have honey and pollen? If you are supplementing with dry sugar how much is left? Are they eating it?
- Signs of disease - this gets tricky as it is still a bit early but some diseases present obvious signs. For example hives affected by Nosema have brown excrement on top of the frames. Other diseases or illness may be trickier to spot but clues to hive health lay in the bee behavior. Does the hive seem vibrant and energetic? Do they seem sluggish or in disarray?
If the weather is very cold and rainy, make your inspections brief or better yet plan to do them on a milder day. You just want to do a quick assessment and then get them tucked back in.
If you find a dead hive you want to remove it from your yard. You can call a bee inspector if you think it was due to disease and set aside the bee equipment aside to be irradiated ( more on this in part 2).
In the next part of our series we will discuss planning ahead for your equipment requirements.
Has anyone checked on their bees yet? Let us know!
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