The weather finally cooperated in NE Vermont and I was able to break into my hives for the first time this spring, so I thought I would pass on some observations and maybe ask a question or two. I wintered my 7 colonies in 2 and 3 deeps with no wrapping or insulation. The bees started bringing in pollen yesterday for the first time this spring, after a brutally cold winter (several days never got above 0F and we got as low as -34F).
I brought 7 colonies into the winter and came out with 6. I'm pretty sure the dead out was due to mites, as I saw plenty of them. One thing that blew me away was the amount of honey stores left over. One hive that I wintered in three deeps had a full deep box of honey untouched, and all the others had between 4 and 9 deep frames of uncapped honey. I figure this must be due to the extraordinarily cold winter and the bees being less active. They actually went over three months without a cleansing flight.
I saw capped and open brood in all 6 colonies but the brood nest was small and the brood pattern was somewhat irregular. I guess my only question would be what does the brood nest typically look like right after winter when the bees first start foraging?
Only other observation was the bees seemed a tad angrier than when I last inspected last fall. Overall though, I'm very pleased with the way they came through the winter.
I brought 7 colonies into the winter and came out with 6. I'm pretty sure the dead out was due to mites, as I saw plenty of them. One thing that blew me away was the amount of honey stores left over. One hive that I wintered in three deeps had a full deep box of honey untouched, and all the others had between 4 and 9 deep frames of uncapped honey. I figure this must be due to the extraordinarily cold winter and the bees being less active. They actually went over three months without a cleansing flight.
I saw capped and open brood in all 6 colonies but the brood nest was small and the brood pattern was somewhat irregular. I guess my only question would be what does the brood nest typically look like right after winter when the bees first start foraging?
Only other observation was the bees seemed a tad angrier than when I last inspected last fall. Overall though, I'm very pleased with the way they came through the winter.