We had no real winter until February. On Feb 3, it was 58F and the bees were flying as they had been most of the month. Then the temperature dropped to 3F the next day and it was far below zero the rest of the month. Some colonies used up all their winter stores flying in the open winter and those not supplementing feed had losses from starvation. Those who hadn't controlled their mites saw colonies dwindle below the cluster size needed at -32 F air temperature to cover honey, froze out.
The warmup started in early March and by mid March the bees had a lot of flying days again. My losses were a couple queen failures and a half dozen hives singled out by skunks and depopulated in late October.
Within the last week, reports of pollen in the area. My bees are still in insulated wraps, receiving pollen patties and supplied with sugar bricks to prevent starvation. If my colonies were in my back yard it would be baggies half full of warm 1:1 syrup. Queens for splits coming end of the month.
The warmup started in early March and by mid March the bees had a lot of flying days again. My losses were a couple queen failures and a half dozen hives singled out by skunks and depopulated in late October.
Within the last week, reports of pollen in the area. My bees are still in insulated wraps, receiving pollen patties and supplied with sugar bricks to prevent starvation. If my colonies were in my back yard it would be baggies half full of warm 1:1 syrup. Queens for splits coming end of the month.