Week 4: Dandelion Time

The weather this week has been fit for neither man nor bees. With temps in the 50s and drizzly rain, it's been a tough time to be a bee. 

I have held off on this week's hive checks for fear of exposing the brood to chilly temps, which would kill thousands of bees-to-be and set back honey production.

The farthest I have gone is to peek under the lid to see how things are going. My primary concern is my new hive (Green) that I split off from White a little over a week ago. They are making a queen, which is a good sign. Hopefully, she will mature over the next few days (queens mature im 16 days), fly off to mate and return safely to start building a new colony.

When I lifted the lid, I could feel the heat coming off the colony. Bees keep their hives around 93 degrees F to grow brood and dehydrate nectar into honey. The 50-degree temperature difference was obvious!

On the plus side, the rain is bringing out flowers. The blooming is booming. And while daffodils are lovely and fruit trees are nice, the real stars of this week's bloomfest have been the weedy stuff that pass unnoticed underfoot -- dead nettle, henbit and, of course, dandelions. 

While gardeners hate the, dandelions are ambrosia for bees, providing loads of nectar for honey production. Now that I know that, I wish my yard had more of them!