Friday, April 8, 2011

On your mark... Get set,,,


I can feel it! Spring is right around the corner!

Lately it's still been pretty cool. The bees come out for a little on the warm days, but it's definitely not full-on spring... YET!

I spent some time tonight digging out some of my hive equipment I put away last year wherever I could find it. Most of it was in the garage (shown above).

I stored the empty frames of wax comb in large tubs where I added some PDB crystals (a type of moth ball which is not harmful to the bees or leave residue on the comb). I had a couple of frames show evidence of wax moth infestation (you can see webbing as the worm burrowed in the frame), but nothing the bees can't repair.

I also made up some sugar syrup with a 10 lb. bag of sugar:


I had a problem over the winter with one of my hives dying from Nosema, so I decided to add some Fumigilin-B to the syrup which will combat the Nosema. I generally try not to over-medicate, but in this case I believe adding the medicine it is waranted. Also, I'm going back to using mason jars for the feed. They don't hold as much as the buckets I tried last year, but at least the lid will seal well. The buckets were like big butter tubs, and the lid didn't hold a seal worth anything.

My plans this weekend are to get into the backyard hives and really give them a good looking over, assuming the temperatures cooperate. If it's too cold, I'll probably just pull a couple of frames to see how things look. In any case, I'll add some sugar syrup to the hives.

I also need to go out to the Sutton hives and bring them back for some cleaning. The package bees arrive in about a week, so I need to get those hives ready.

It's close!!

1 comment:

  1. Ah, it is sooo good not to have to do this anymore! I've switched to fixed-comb, foundationless, practically "touchless" hives. My 5-in-1, my cheese wire, my veil and my smoker (the only single-use equiupment I use) go in a basket on the top shelf in the shed and any extra supers go right underneath their respective hives where they're out of the way all winter and I'm almost sure not to lose them!

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