With the temperature pushing 30, sunshine and almost no wind this afternoon, we took the opportunity to do a more thorough check of our winter bee hives while out doing our chores. We immediately noticed a lot of activity (for this time of year) from one hive. Snow covered with dozens of dead bees may be alarming to some but for beekeepers its a good sign. It means the weaker bees are leaving the hive to die ( they are very considerate like that) and the healthy bees are taking brief cleansing flights to eliminate wastes. The other hive showed no similar activity. Upon opening the inactive hive it was very evident that hive had died out. There was plenty of honey (food) left in the hive but almost no bees (dead or alive) in or around the hive - a classic sign of Colony Collapse Disorder - the bees have plenty of food stores and a hive in otherwise good condition but the bees are just gone. We always hate it when we loose a colony - especially when we feel we have done everything we can to help the bees survive. But we are grateful we still have a hive that has made it through this brutally cold winter. They are truly amazing little creatures. We put some food ( a solid block of cane sugar mixed with essential oils) on the healthy hive and buttoned it back up. Hopefully they will survive the rest of the winter. We will need their pollination services for our gardens and orchards before you know it!
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 20:47:32 +0000
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