It's been a while since I updated our Blog, mostly because there is not much going on in the Bee Yard this time of year. We have had a most unusual, warm winter. With that being said, we were concerned about the Bees using up their winter food stores earlier than normal. The last 2 weekends have been warm enough for a quick check of the hives. We made up some sugar blocks to place on the hives in the event they were running low on stores. Hive #2 went into winter with only the 2 deep brood boxes, and whatever stores they were able to pack away in those 2 boxes. We opened Hive #2 a couple of weeks ago, and placed 2, 2 lb. sugar blocks on the top of the frames in the upper brood box. There were a LOT of bees up there, and they were active due to the warm weather.
Last weekend, we were able to open the hive again, and check on the sugar blocks. They had almost consumed one block, so we added another. This gave them 4 lbs. of sugar block food, which should last them for another couple of weeks, or until we get another weekend with weather mild enough to check on them. The hives appear to be strong, with a good population of bees. A good population of Bees, going into spring, is always a good thing!
Hive #1 is doing well also, and they had 2 medium supers full of capped honey going into winter. They haven't had the need to move all the way up to the top box for food as of yet, so we may be able to pull that box and extract the honey. Time will tell, as we have a few weeks to go before we are totally out of the woods with extended periods of cold weather. But for now, everything looks good with both hives.
I have been working in the shop, building some new screened bottom boards with a removable tray for mite and beetle control. I'll post an update soon with the results of that endeavor. As always........thanks for visiting our Blog!
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