The Big Spring Day!

Left over snow from Monday(4/22) snow storm!

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Now we may dare say that spring has arrived! Finally! It is now 77F (25C), a bit warm for spring but I think that I should not complain as it could be worst..we know.

 Friday April 26, 2013 was a big day for the bees...lots needed to be done to get them ready for the nectar flow which will eventually arrive!

This represent a hive with 2 boxes, upper and lower box. In the fall, the bees are reside in the bottom box, and the food reserve (pollen and honey) is on top. During the winter months, the bees eat their reserve. Slowly as spring approaches, the bees gather in the top box and queen starts laying her eggs at that location in empty cells. By now the bottom box is empty. Because it is in the nature of bees to go up (like in a tree trunk), we have to rotate the boxes to simulate that upward motion! This permutation gives them a lot of space and is also supposed to prevent swarming (leaving the crowded nest). So, Ben did that rotation to every hive, some boxes still full of food were very heavy. He also clean the dead bees accumulated at the bottom of the hive, and gave them a larger bottom entrance.

Since, we don't have flowers yet. He gave each colony 2 buckets (2. lb, or 7 L)) of  sugary syrup, to sustain them until the dandelions show up! Apparently the honeybees had plenty of pollen patties left, so none were added anywhere.

Sugar syrup

In this endeavor, Liz helped him in Chanhassen. Smoking the bees was a smart thing to do that day! It was warm and they were flying in and out. Ben noticed that they were coming back with a little pale yellow and orange pollen on their legs... I wonder where in the world they are finding pollen right now!

I know that they will gather the tree sap before the flower nectar is available to them...they are smart. During this spring cleaning, Ben expelled 3 mice from under one hive...probably a family. It is a very nice adobe for them during winter...warm and plenty of food!

After 4-5 hours of heavy lifting, Benoit came back home happy ; the honeybees were on their way to a new season. We wish them well!