Operation HONEY BEE

Lately our farm chores have involved participating in multiple stealth missions in anticipation of spring time.  One of these is figuring out what exactly is going on with our honey bees.  Up to this point we have left the bees to their own devices.  Last fall we treated for mites and diseases, fed them up, left extra honey, and insulated them using both hive wraps and quilt boards.  As spring time looms, I am eager to see if anyone survived the long, cold winter.

On our first warm day this past week, I suited up and sneaked into the bee yard.  "Sneak" is a bit misleading as it was around 1 pm (the warmest part of the day) and I had to slog through snow that was past my knees.  I was neither particularly quiet nor stealthy as I might have uttered a string of curse words each time one of my boots came off underneath the snow.

When I finally managed to get to the hives with all my equipment, I cracked each one open to see what I could see.  In hives 1 and 2 I could not "see" anything but I swear I could hear a faint buzzing when I pressed my ear against the top bars of the hive.  I did not investigate any further as it was still pretty cold out and I did not want to disturb the colonies if they were still clustered in the middle of the hive.  Just in case they were in there, I placed "bee candy" (aka sugar patties) on the top bars to ensure that they do not run out of food before the trees and flowers start to bloom.

I made the bee candy while up at the cottage, in hopes that at least one hive would be alive and would need a food top up.  Needless to say, I was beyond thrilled when I opened hives 3 and 4 to find happy bees chilling on the top bars of the hives. 

I changed the pillow cases stuffed with wood chips (used to collect moisture) for fresh, dry ones and slid sugar patties in underneath them before I replaced the hive covers and lids and whooped with joy.

As my neighbour Beekeeper Jim pointed out, a lot can happen between now and the big thaw, but it is so heartening to have at least some of my bee colonies make it through what I hope was the worst part of winter.  Ah, I am so happy!  I hope my bees can just hold on for a few more weeks until spring arrives in full force.  It will be wonderful when they can come out to enjoy the sunshine and fresh blooms of 2019.