Waiting for Spring

The 2 large hives and the nuc didn't survive (varroa in the 2 and the nuc froze). I didn't treat the 2 hives until October, so they were probably doomed at that point. The hive on the end survived and they seem to be doing well. Anyway, I have packages and a nuc of Carnis on order for spring, and have begun to set up the deeps. Still learning ...

Not like last year ...

Saturday, January 7 it was 52F here (??!!). Warm and sunny enough to open the hives for a quick check. Everybody looks fine, they are munching on the winter patties and flying around a bit. The Carnis are in a smaller cluster, but that is their nature. It's my first year with them, so still learning. The Italians all look good, one hive has moved up into the honey super that I had left for them.

Legacy

I knew that my Mother's Father had kept bees - that is where my Dad learned about them, but had not seen any photos of his apiary. In going through some old family things, I found a couple of pictures of him working his bees, probably in the 1930s. Guess it runs in the family, and I am proud to continue the tradition. (Now if I could only channel their knowledge).

8 inches of Halloween snow !!

After the October 29 snowfall. Lost the pear tree to the left, some branches from the apple trees and most of a large magnolia. Glad I insulated the hives last week !!

MAQS to the Rescue !

Well, after a lot of rain and no time, I finally did a sugar roll and found enough mites to warrant treatment. A quick call to Dadant brought me the MAQS, and I put them in last Friday. On Sunday, I checked the trays under the SBBs and WoW! The strips worked as advertised. Lots of dead mites on the trays. The hives need to left alone for 7 days after placing the strips, so I will check them thoroughly this weekend. (The dark area in the upper right is some pollen, wax and dirt.)

Try, try again ...

Well the first Carniolan queen I introduced to the nuc didn't work out. I saw her out at the 5 day point, but not after that. Then, bees from the other hives began robbing the feeder - I think they either killed her or drove her out. There was no new brood showing on any of the frames ( except for the brood that was there when I split into the nuc). So... picked up another queen, split two more frames of brood and moved the nuc about 75 feet from the hives. I also removed the division board feeder and placed two frames of honey and about 1/4 of a Mega-Bee patty in there for them. I put the queen cage in on Monday evening after I did the split, but left the cap on the candy port for a couple of days. Last night, I checked them and they seemed fine with her, so I removed the cap from the candy and will check them again this weekend. I really hope this takes, as I want to try the Carniolans.
The fourth hive, from a package installed on 6/18, is building up nicely. These are Italians, as are the other two hives.

Butterflies, too !

We are also a Monarch Butterfly Waystation through Monarch Watch (http://www.monarchwatch.org/). Here's a caterpillar transforming into a chrysalis, and a Monarch in full glory.