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Colony Update here in MA

241K views 1K replies 69 participants last post by  Pepperell Bee and Honey 
#1 ·
Have long been a fan of Allen's "Colony update here in PA" and Squarepeg's "2015 Treatment Free Experience" threads and thought it worth while starting a similar thread for experiences a bit further north.... I have two outyards in Marshfield (3 production colonies and 4 nucs) and Needham (2 production colonies and 4 nucs) and plan on moving two hives from Marshfield to my place in Quincy for spring pollination so should be able to give a good running report of what is going on in the greater Boston area here. Nucs are Mike Palmer style split deeps (each with a single deep super) and production colonies are double deeps with a single medium super. All colonies are outfitted with broodminder's for temp/humidity monitoring and I have a scale setup to weigh the production hives. All colonies still are still in winter wrap with Mike Palmer style mouse guards. The weather reported is through my weather station located in Quincy.

Red maples and crocus are blooming (since 7 Mar roughly a month early) and all hives/nucs are bringing in pale and yellow pollen.

Weather this week has been unseasonably warm with temperatures typically with the lows in the 30-40F range and the highs in the 40-60F range. Rain MTD = .=0.71" and YTD = 6.22".

Marshfield Outyard - Based on the broodminer readings, two of the 3 Marshfield hives started brooding the third week in Feb with the last one brooding at my last check (13 Mar) after feeding pollen patties. All hives/nucs are being fed fondant and pollen patties and are taking them. Two hives are very large and one is fairly weak. The weak hive was the last to kick off brooding. One nuc is strong and one is weak but both are expected to survive. Hive weights are stable to slightly down from the previous week.

Needham Outyard - Based on the broodminer readings, both production hives started brooding the third week in Feb. All hives and nucs are being fed fondant and pollen patties and are taking them. One hive is very large and one is fairly average and both are very active. Both nucs are strong. Hive weights are stable to slightly up from the previous week.

I normally check in on my outyards on Sundays so should be able to update early in the following week. This next Sunday is expected to be rain/snow so I may not be able to check in with results next week. (19 Mar)
 
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#48 ·
Went in my hive today and flipped the boxes. Had 5 bee school students with me, thankfully as I couldn't lift the top box so appreciated the help. My bees were mad from the get go and formed a huge cloud all over. Everyone got stung several times and we got chased into the house, bees in my hair, in my husband's shoes. Awful experience! Not sure why they were so pissy!!
 
#49 ·
next time try a smoker, wear a veil and take it slow. I got no stings today, no gloves. but I did have a veiled jacket on. worked several hives. They were "pissy" because you weren't ready for them. Bees were very calm today, considering I moved several from 5 frame nucs to 10 frame boxes, most of those 5 framers were 2 story and it meant breaking up brood nests and moving lots of bees. No stings.
 
#50 ·
Believe me I always do-no way would I ever go into a hive without a full suit on. The moment I popped the top they were at me in a huge cloud, there were a lot of bees in there, wonder why they were so defensive today-skunks..no food..other? Every time I tried to come out of the house, there were guards waiting for me for at least 2 hours. Guess I gave the students a lesson that bees aren't always nice and gentle...sigh
 
#51 ·
so how did bees get in your hair, if you were fully suited? did you smoke them a little before popping the top? There must have been something. I've always had at least 15 hives by my back door and never had that problem. Did have one hive that went queenless on summer and met me at the truck door when I pulled into the yard. Gave it a queen and it was fine. Maybe this hive is queenless?
 
#52 ·
I'll be doing inspections of my hives in the Fenway Victory Garden (Boston) about noon on Wednesday. This is a teaching apiary, and I encourage people to come along.
 
#53 ·
This was after we closed up the hive, there were several persistent guard bees attacking everyone in the yard. I took my protection off away from the hive and they just wouldn't quit. Then my son got stung, we were chased into the house. Maybe it was something someone was wearing or a scent they had on? I've never had a colony take off in such large numbers like that. It was a calm sunny day, temps in the high 50s. The whole hive was covered in bees, it was very scary. I don't think they are queenless, I saw some burr comb with grubs in, and they're bringing in pollen. Couldn't get at the frames to look today and I'm not keen on going back in anytime soon.
 
#56 ·
Fuzzy, smokers level all playing fields. :)

Russian hybrid queens are known for sometimes being grouchy. Last summer I had a hive I couldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. But if you smoke them, you, and even around the outside of the hive, it should keep them from being scary aggressive. It could have been they're insecure about getting their spring colony ramped up, who knows. Another thing I wonder about when a hive is overly aggressive when I'm working them is whether I've hurt/lost the queen and they know it and I don't. I hope your queen is okay.
 
#57 ·
I think she is, this was the first time I went in since last fall. On somber reflection I think the wind was blowing the smoke away from the hive and I couldn't see as I was wearing sunglasses. Not going to wear them again!! By the time I noticed the alarm had been tripped. My yard did calm down a couple of hours later, we were able to go back outside and grill so not all was lost!
 
#64 ·
No, it is the purple.loostrife that is green in the fall...I'm 5 hiking this must be honey they were uncapping. Antifreeze is always a disturbing positivity that I try to look out for.
 
#66 ·
First split of the year and for me today. Went through my buddies hive (housed on my property) and found a most fully formed and closed queen cell. Picture perfect - straight out of a text book. Pulled the queen and started a nuc. Will check the original hive in 20 days for a laying queen.

I had some blue pollen coming in last week.
 
#68 ·
So this was my friends hive and I have been hands off on it but he asked me look at it with him. This was a package that we installed on 3/28. We separated a dead-out from last year and started 2 packages. 1 deep box with honey, drawn foundation, and foundation. Lots of Bees, package came with lots of drones. There were a few other queen cells in the early stage but not as lovely as the one that was capped. Lots of room for the queen to lay. We have sugar water on so they can build out the foundation. Brood pattern a bit spotty but she was laying.

My have (the other of the two) Is going gang busters. Queen is a laying machine hope to be adding a second super on next weekend
 
#69 ·
What a difference a week makes! Weather has been nice (finally!) with week 15 high of 81 and a low of 42 with two days of measurable rain. Week 16 had a high of 65 and a low of 39, also with two days of measurable rain. YTD rain is 10.53" and we have 2.46" of rain so far this month.

Did a full inspection before leaving for a week of vacation and again this last weekend... Mature drones are flying but there are no swarm cells in any hives yet. Found I had lost two nucs.... One due to mites (small cluster locked on brood) and one due to my stupidity. I use Mike Palmer style nucs (4 over 4) and used a winter shim that did not have a divider to keep the sides separate allowing one side to take over the other.... Moved both surviving nucs to 10 frame deeps to give them space to build up.... All hives but my weakest are putting on weight..... Peaches, Anjou Pears, Crab Apple, Liberty Apple, Damson Plums and sweet cherries are all blooming and the girls are taking full advantage....

Was tempted to combine my weak hive with one of my strong ones but have decided to wait a bit and see if they recover.... Queen is laying spotty and there was signs of chalkbrood.... Gave her a couple of frames of brood from my strongest hive which should help but will have to see.... Supered up all the hives (2 supers each) with the exception of the one weak hive so hopefully will give them enough space to forestall swarming...

One apiary in the town over (Braintree) has already had two swarms in his yard so I really need to keep a close eye on things.....

Sure is nice to see the sun! ;- )
 
#71 ·
Thanks! It might be good to calibrate the actual delay based on what is blooming.... I've been posting just the stuff I actually see bees foraging in the "Massachusetts" section of the blooming forum and my posts there go back more than a year.... Same basic idea as I am trying to do here where you have a single thread where you can not only see what is going on with your local neighbors but also compare year on year.... I keep all these records anyway but it's always good to see what others are seeing in the state....
 
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