Cold enough for ya? This is a hard time of year for me, wondering if the bees will survive the severe cold snaps. They have (mostly) in the past and can survive in a tight cluster down to -40 degrees, but still…….. I like to go back and press my ear against the side of the hives to hear the low buzzing to be reassured that all is well, but when it’s this cold I don’t. Nothing I could do anyway. I mentioned in the last newsletter that hive #5 had gone silent in December. I was able to open the hive on one of those balmy 30 degree days we had a couple of weeks ago and found that they had died out. All of the bees were on the bottom board and there was a deep and a medium full of honey so they didn’t starve. The colony had been treated twice in fall for mites, and I found only one mite on the top layer of bees, so mites weren’t the cause. I have no idea why they died. I put the hive back together in the same way it had been and will look again when it’s warmer, but I think it’s one of those times when I just won’t know. The remaining 9 hives seem to be doing all right so far including “the dink”. I checked them all last weekend and they were buzzing and had sugar discs and pollen patties on the top bars. “The dink” is surprising me. There were only a few frames of bees and capped larvae in late fall, and the bees wouldn’t take syrup. Because they didn’t have much for food reserves I removed the upper deep so the hive is composed of only one deep and one medium, so I guess it’s an 8 frame nuc. I didn’t expect them to make it this far, but they’re still humming. I’m cheering for them but the finish line is a long way off. All we can do for the bees from now until April is check their food reserves on warm days and add sugar and pollen patties when they’re low. This is the time for us to prepare us for next season. The boxes and frames I ordered on Black Friday are ready to be assembled and painted, package bees have been ordered, there are books to study, and I have cappings to render to make into candles. April will be here soon. If you remember that bit about Sam Comfort in the last newsletter about how genetics and nutrition are key to healthy, robust bees……well that launched me on a bee nutrition quest. I have been researching the research and trying to develop a plan of action. So far pollen and/or pollen substitute patties appear to be a must and there’s (3) commercial qualifiers in my book: MegaBee, BeePro, and UltraBee. (You can view Randy Oliver’s test results at http://scientificbeekeeping.com/a-comparative-test-of-the-pollen-sub/). But pollen substitutes are all lacking in some essential nutrients, as are all natural pollens. It takes a diverse array of pollens for the bees to be able to gather what they need to maintain colony health. They’re referred to as “polyfloral pollens” and that’s my winter course of study. I’m gathering information on bee plants that appear to be nutritious and will select which ones to add to what’s growing here now. But it isn’t proving to be easy. I initially thought that I would search for bee-attractive plants that produce pollen with high protein content and that would be that. It turns out that bees exposed to high and low protein producing plants don’t always choose the higher protein pollen. That’s because pollens contain other things that bees need, and science hasn’t unlocked all of that yet. My revised course of action is to determine the most bee-attractive plants to have a steady supply of pollen (and nectar) available. Spring bloomers, summer bloomers and autumn bloomers. Variety to provide an array of amino acids (proteins), vitamins and minerals, and the ability for the plants to thrive in the soil that’s here. Good thing I have a few months. The end game for me is sustainable colonies with no treatments. That will take years at least. I have a pretty good genetic mix and a fairly good flora mix going, and both will be improved upon this season. Side Note 1: The thought occurred to me that maybe it’s not just the genetics of the Russian honeybee that makes them Varroa tolerant, but the forage in the Primorsky region as well. Maybe there’s a chemical in those plants that help the Russians develop immunity to the viruses vectored by Varroa. Yes, I am researching the flora of the Primorsky region. Side Note 2: Russian Sage is a great bee plant, but it’s neither Russian nor a sage. Enough of that. According to the calendar a new year has started. For those of you who log your hive locations on Driftwatch (aka; Fieldwatch), it’s time to renew your listings and add new locations if you’re expanding. Driftwatch requires annual renewals. They have a new thing now where you can map one location and list the number of hives at that location instead of having to map each individual hive. Progress. https://driftwatch.org/ (For those of you new to this, Driftwatch is a free site where you can map your hives, and other specialty crops. The theory is that pesticide applicators will consult this map and conscientiously prevent drift toward bees and hives. You can also log a report should drift harm your bees.) I hope to see you all next Saturday, 1/14/2017, at our meeting. Ripon Public Library, 9:30 a.m., Silver Creek Room. The library staff informed me that there’s a group meeting at 12:30 so we must be out by 12:00. And we need to leave the room at least as clean as we found it. The last meeting didn’t end so well, but Mark took care of things and we’re back on good terms with the staff. We need to keep it that way. Nominations and voting will be held for the Vice-President and Treasurer positions. May we all have a successful 2017. Gerard
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ECWBA NewsletterSince 2009 Archives
March 2019
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