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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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#1,213 ·
I treated with OA as planned, no problems. I inspected Friday and found all 3 hives doing well with plenty of eggs, larvae, and capped brood. The bees are bringing in lots of pollen but not much blooming yet for nectar sources. I'm feeding with a super of sugar water stores left over from the winter placed above the inner cover.

I installed the packages on some pretty nasty comb from the dead outs. I'm amazed how quickly the bees cleaned everything up, it all looks perfect now. As soon as the first round of bees start emerging I plan on adding the second box and testing for mites.
 
#1,214 ·
Inspected Saturday and everyone is looking good except for one which looks like EFB.... Will treat next weekend.... Packages installed two weeks ago are building up well and lots of pollen/nectar coming in.... Drones are flying so can't imagine swarm season is far off....

Picked up two local nucs yesterday and will be installing this afternoon in my Needham yard. Was an amazing experience picking them up... Beekeeper had an awesome number of very cool and inventive ideas and amazingly strong and healthy hives.
 
#1,216 ·
Inspections yesterday went well.... Packages are building up quick with a full deep already and just starting on the second deep. Still feeding as they are still building out frames and we haven't hit the flow yet... Am liking the frame feeders better and better... Easy to fill and minimal drowned bees... Several overwintered hives are very strong and am thinking of splitting next week... The one hive showing signs of IAPV seems to have corrected with no sign of shivering/lethargic bees during this weeks inspection... Added Oxytet to the one hive that is showing signs of EFB.... Nucs installed last week have not really started expanding yet so will need to keep an eye on them....
 
#1,217 ·
Supered up and inspected overwintered and new package hives.... Newly installed Nucs are active and doing well.... Swarm traps are out but nothing yet.... A number of swarms have been reported so we are definitely in the season.... Horse chestnut is blooming but the first big flow for me is usually black locust which isn't showing signs yet.... One overwintered hive is solidly in swarm prep so will need to put on Snelgrove board to see if I can stop it... EFB hive is responding well to Oxytet and looks to be turning around so am keeping my fingers crossed....
 
#1,219 ·
I’ve developed a bee allergy and have decided to give up beekeeping, not interested in the risk.

Anyone in Hopkinton area interested in my bees and equipment?

Basically i have a four hive yard. I’ve got two booming double deeps full of bees with supers on (one hive has two of three supers filled). Two other dead out hives fully drawn deeps/partly drawn supers. Everything you would need including bee escapes, snelgrove boards, OAV wand, stainless steel two frame extractor, 5over5 nuc, etc, etc. All of the woodenware is 1-5 yrs old and in excellent shape.

This would be great way for established beek to update some gear and get two healthy hives (one hive Formic Acid treatment completed last week) or this would be a great way for a newbie time warp to ahead a couple of yrs.

I’m looking for a good home for this more than money. But I’m hoping for a small payment to help a little with the sting of giving all this up.

If anyone is interested, let me know.
 
#1,220 ·
Hives are getting a new home in Concord. State inspector to inspect the hives before the move.
The hives are full of nectar. One hive has two of three supers full but not capped. New owner is going to have to swap out some frames to combat building nectar bound concerns, strong flow recently. Going to be heavy moving. I’m thinking I could use bee escape 24 hrs before the hives get picked up to make moving easier.
 
#1,225 ·
Snelgrove rocks! All three hives had the swarm cells taken down and appeared to not have swarmed.... Hives in Marshfield and Needham are packing away the honey! No sign of flow in Rockland yet. Nice stretch of weather coming up this week so good chance for the girls to take care of business......
 
#1,228 ·
Anybody harvest any supers yet? I have a few packages from April that are going gangbusters. One has 4 supers and i'm going to have to harvest this weekend i think. Trying to control the size as i have queens coming in 2 weeks. Hopefully no swarms before then. No queen cells on last inspection.
 
#1,234 ·
Got through that heat wave. Harvested a few supers from one hive that is a monster just to make sure they have room. Its still 2 deeps and 3 supers tall and those 3 will be capped in a few weeks. Its a sasatraz queen and i'm really liking their demeanor. Started from a package in april.

Having an issue at one yard with EFB. Confirmed with test. I can't get a vet to call in a feed order to Mann lake so i can get some terra pro. Anyone know any vets that can authorize one for new hampshire? I can't even get any call backs.
 
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