"Surprise. We're alive."I'm sure that's what the bees were saying in Hive #2. To be honest, I expected to find a dead out. I was going to put in the feed even if I didn't see bees. I decided ahead I would not knock on the hive and irritate the bees just to see if they were alive.
[Photo - Last night's snow's all tramped down but the sun is shining warmly. No photos of open hives because I was working quickly].
The bees in Hive #2 were clustered in the frames and many were on the top bars of the hive. I had to smoke them a bit to get them to move down. Moving as quickly as I could I added a rim spacer and a large and small Ziploc baggie along with a small piece of pollen patty (not sure if I should be giving that or not).
Then I closed up the hive. They were alive! Wow![Photo - this chickadee enjoys lunching on dead bees].
On Hives 1, and 4 the bees were down in the frames. I could hear them and saw a few come out on a cleansing flight. I gave them feed too, although from what my friend Henry said, if the bees are down in the frames they probably have enough feed.
Hive #3, a nuc from last summer, had a few bees on the top bars as well so I figured they were moving up and probably running out of feed too.
The key thing I'm told with feeding this early is that if you start you have to keep feeding. No problem. I enjoyed being outside for a sunny afternoon.
It really was warm working in the sun. I put the wraps back on and closed up shop.
Video - This worker hit the snow and struggled so I put my finger down and she latched on. She warmed herself up and then flew off.
1 comment:
Great, glad they're alive! I plan to open mine today (supposed to get above 50) and reverse bodies. Loved the video of the little bee. I think she liked the yellow jacket, but a bit disappointed when it didn't produce any pollen/nectar!
Jim
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