Week 2: Growing Fast

This week's hive inspection showed lots of changes from last week's. All four hives are headed for a population explosion in the next week or two -- just in time for the peaches, pears, and tulip poplars to be in full bloom.

The plums have already started blooming heavily. We're also seeing little things like henbit and violets that are favorites of the bees but not at flashy as the trees.

The hives show a mix of recently capped (bright yellow cappings) brood and older (dark cappings) brood that should start emerging within the week. There are also plenty of eggs and young larvae. The queens are loading the place up with new bees. In most cases, what was a few frames of brood in a single box last week is already double or triple that in two boxes this week.

They're even making drone brood, which is obvious because their cells are so much bigger. Given that drones are the preferred host for varroa mites, this is probably a good time to do another treatment.

The rule of thumb is: one frame of brood = two frames worth of bees. If that holds true, we are about to be loaded with bees, which means I'll be heading off swarms by this time next month.

I also spotted the queen of the White Hive, who happens to have a white dot. She was part of a nucleus I bought last year to rebuild after my back-to-back bear attacks and has proven herself to be prolific.

This was the week that I gave the hives their first dose of 1:1 sugar water, a magical elixir that simulated a natural nectar flow and boosts the queen's egg-laying rate. 

(A bit of henbit pollen stuck in beeswax)

I'm not sure how much it was needed, to be honest, but it can't hurt, especially since I plan to use these hives to spin off at least two more hives this year. 

First Inspection of 2025

Winter is always a tenuous time for beekeeping. You feed the bees in the fall so they can build up honey resources to live for the coming months, then you shut them away. Fingers crossed. If things go well, your bees will be thriving come March. If not, you'll find a dead hive filled with bees.

Last year, I had a hive die over the winter. It was too small going into the cold months, and I should have lifeboated them with a larger hive but I did not. Live and learn.

This week I made my first official visit to the four hives (White, Blue, Periwinkle, Yellow) to check on their status. I'm happy to say they are thriving. All four still have loads of resources -- primarily sugar water converted to honey that they didn't eat over the winter.

They are already packing in pollen from all over in all kinds of colors, including yellow, olive green and even hot pink! The pollen will feed the hives' growing brood as the world wakes up and the spring nectar flow begins. (Nectar is the foundation of honey.)

These bees are the tail-end of the "winter bees" that are born fatter and longer-lived than the summer bees. Winter bees live several months, rather than the month-and-a-half for summer bees. Winter bees, basically, keep the hive alive until spring.

During my inspection, I spotted two of my queens -- Periwinkle and Yellow -- which was good. They have green dogs on their backs, indicating that they were born in 2024. This year's queens, if I make any, will get blue dots.

I also got to see a new bee emerging from her cell after completing her pupation. She is the first a thousands more to be born in the weeks to come. Bring on spring!

The First Blooms

After a miserable, cold, and snowy February, we are seeing our first signs of spring -- the crocuses have started appearing!

They are following the hellebores (Lenten roses) that started appearing last week.

 Hopefully, these few brave blooms are the vanguard of this year's honey flow, which is running about a month late so far.

What's next to bloom?