Hello,
I am from South Eastern Iowa. I Just started in Bees last Spring with a package from Dadant. I caught 3 more swarms this year so I have 4 hives. One swarm that I caught late in the summer is small & I am really concerned about their well being since we had a stretch of really cold weather (-10 to + 10 for three weeks. I am seeing a lot of dead bees near the entrance but I don't know how much of this is normal. They had 1 1/2 to 2 deep supers of brood & honey & pollen so I felt good going in but now I am not so sure.
I Retired from my regular job about 3 years ago & have been interested in bees for a while so I decided to give it a try. I am close to Dadant so have gotten a lot of good advise from them. I need to meet some other bee guys in the area but haven't yet.
I am from South Eastern Iowa. I Just started in Bees last Spring with a package from Dadant. I caught 3 more swarms this year so I have 4 hives. One swarm that I caught late in the summer is small & I am really concerned about their well being since we had a stretch of really cold weather (-10 to + 10 for three weeks. I am seeing a lot of dead bees near the entrance but I don't know how much of this is normal. They had 1 1/2 to 2 deep supers of brood & honey & pollen so I felt good going in but now I am not so sure.
I Retired from my regular job about 3 years ago & have been interested in bees for a while so I decided to give it a try. I am close to Dadant so have gotten a lot of good advise from them. I need to meet some other bee guys in the area but haven't yet.