Do beekeepers work in the winter time?
One of our old girls laid an egg without a shell. This happens sometimes when they start getting older. It can also be a sign of low calcium in their diet. I know that’s not the case with our girls because we add calcium to their feed. This was an egg from a 6 year old hen.
So happy to see these girls out and about. 50 degree yesterday and they are out and about. Hurray up spring.
Winterizing time for hives. Inner covers coming off and moisture wick boards go on. Added sugar incase they run out of honey stores. 23 hives going into winter. I’m hoping they will all make it but I do have a couple small hives. If we have another mild winter there is a good chance they will all pull thru. We have a couple feral hives that we rescued this summer that were really strong and robust. Some studies have found feral hives to be stronger and show better mite resistance. These are the kind of genetics beekeepers want. We can use these hives to make stronger colonies and produce new queens.
All of our fish made it Thru winter and look to be double the size since last year. Even Bud, the one eyed frog, made it Thru. You can see him on the rock in the back of the pond.
My favorite thing is watching these ladies doing the clean up after honey harvest. I especially love the look on non beekeepers face when they pull in the driveway and see thousands of bee’s flying around. It’s definitely a scary sight for some people. 🤣🤣
Bees marching into the box
Never have I ever split beehives in the beginning of April. These hives are overflowing with bees so to give them room to grow we split the hives. The Queen and a bunch of workers are moved to a new hive box. In the old box we leave fresh eggs and nurse bees to help raise a new Queen. In about 4 weeks the queenless hive should have a new working queen. 🐝. By doing a spilt in spring time you hope that this will eliminate the need for them to swarm. We will monitor the growth in the Queen rite hive giving them extra boxes as they continue to grow.
Spotted this beautiful queen today in her hive. ❤️❤️
These girls are busy little bees.
I love how she lets the baby ride on her back.