Sugar Syrup for Spring

Spring has finally started to show around the bee yard. There were moments I honestly despaired that spring might never arrive.

Mud is becoming more frequent and squishier with all the snow melting. We revived over nine, yes NINE feet of snow in the bee yard. But Turkey Vultures, skunks, and woodpeckers rapping on trees are more more welcome signs of spring!

Many signs of spring are important to bees and beekeepers. The red tips of maple trees are a sure sign that one of the most important nectar sources is on the horizon. Maple trees will be in flower in a few short weeks providing much needed pollen and nectar for the bees as they emerge from their winter of cuddling.

To help them get going this spring, I plan to feed them the remnants of  their own honey from last year but I don't expect that to go very far. I might need to supplement with sugar syrup.

In the spring I use a 1:1 sugar syrup. This means that for each cup of sugar I use one cup of water.

 I measure out both the water and the sugar so I am ready. I start the water heating and when it is boiling, I add the sugar and then remove the heat.

Then I stir it until it is clear and the sugar is dissolved completely. This will need to cool before giving it to the  bees. It is at this point if you want to add essential oils or medication, you can do so when cool. 

Thyme, lemongrass, and spearmint are common oils to add in the spring and can help bees cleanse their guts from overwintering. Other options include adding fumagilin B to help control nosema. 

On another, but related note, I was talking with a friend about keeping bees and why I do so. Part of my answer, which was longer than I expected, included that it is important to me to support the food supply and this is one important way I can help keep variety in my diet. So go bees!!

Girl Scouts in the bee yard

I am so lucky to be involved with an amazing group of girls. My girl scout troop came over to learn about bees and finish the beekeeping badge. This is a photo taken by my GS partner, Kristin Graffeo. She took all the pictures shown here today. These girls, most who had never been near the bees, showed courage and strength in getting this close and letting the bees land on them. Not one, not one girl, had an issue with the bees coming to land and say hi.

We had a great time watching the girls and looking at larvae, eggs, and worker bees. 

We found one capped drone cell. He still has a week or so to go before emerging, but now there are 11 young midwives, waiting for his impending arrival. 

Thanks to all the beekeepers in Millbury who loaned us veils and jackets so we could all have one. That was 11 loans from a lot of beekeepers - love this community!

But truly it is the girls' parents who I need to thank most. All the parents just dropped off their daughters at my house. No one was worried (or at least not worried that much!) about leaving their daughter with me as we explored venomous stinging insects. Thank you for your trust. 

I love this picture Kristin took of me, showing off the capped cells. Thanks for making me look so good!!

It's that time of year...

If you are a beekeeper, it is time to record bee losses at beeinformed.org. This is a quick survey about the number, location, and state of the hives you had in the fall and still have now. This survey is not a true scientific survey but gives a us a good picture of the state of the health of our bee populations in the US. At their website, you can see the results of previous year's surveys.

Sign of spring

I found this girl on my deck yesterday. It was a gorgeous day here in Massachusetts with temps in our yard just over 50' and lots of sunshine. If you look carefully, on her hind leg what can we see ... POLLEN!

So what are the early spring flowers that are in bloom?  Skunk cabbage, pussy willow and maybe an early crocus could all be a source of pollen. Given the very light color, I would normally say pussy willow but I haven't seen any out in our immediate area. Skunk cabbage is usually kind of a day-glo green-yellow and often the bees have pollen down their backs.  Crocus is a bit yellow-orange.

One other thought occurred to me last week while walking in the woods. Witch hazel still has some sad looking flowers on their branches. There is always the possibility of a few stray grains of pollen left on these flowers that bloomed late, late last fall.

Regardless of the source, I am so pleased to see pollen. Pollen means babies.

There have been dead bees in front of both hives over the last few days. While that is sad, it does mean that there had to be some live bees in the hive. At the moment, both hives are doing well but March isn't over and it is one of the most difficult months to survive as a bee. The temperatures fluctuate a lot and there really isn't much to eat out there for the bees. Early spring flowers don't have much in the way of nectar or even pollen.

So let's hope for some mild temperatures and hug a red maple tree. Red maples are a key source of nectar and pollen for bees.

Just one more picture - she's so cute. Oh, and she's a new baby - from an egg laid in 2013.

Banana Report

A few weeks ago I put a banana in my hives to see if this would help with the chalkbrook issues in all three hives. Our big hive, Sun's, got a whole banana and the other two each got a half.

Well this is Serenity's hive- this was the split we did earlier this year. You can still see the blackened peel at the top and bottom. There was a PILE of chalkbrood mummies on the bottom of this hive. The bees were doing a great job of cleaning them out of the frames, just not out of the hive.

The banana peels had mold on them and looked nasty. Yech, but I will tell you that two out of three hives are looking pretty chalkbrood free. I am now wondering if we need to move the third hive to a sunnier location as they still have wicked chalkbrood. Sigh.

So will I do this again- sure it didn't hurt the bees and along with better ventilation, might help. It certainly didn't hurt the bees.

Along with all this crazy chalkbrood I have been waiting for the bees to supercede Sun. She's three years old and is starting to lay in a patchy pattern. Perhaps my talk to the bees worked because what to my wondering eyes should appear today but a new queen. She was camera shy so I only got an iffy shot but like her mum, she's all golden. She is lighter than Sun but she has no marks on her abdomen.

Serendipity- our swarm hive- is building slowly. Partly this is the chalkbrood but I think they are just not in a good location. They are off the bee deck (my hives sit on a deck originally built for a hot tub) and it just might be too cool.