Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

2019 Winter solstice

7K views 42 replies 14 participants last post by  althea 
#1 ·
Winter solstice will be here tomorrow. If you have not given your bees their final OAV treatment for 2019, this next week is the time to do it, while they are still broodless. Even though our coldest weather is yet to come, it won't be long before the queens start laying and the opportunity to treat while broodless will have passed. It is also time to think about providing pollen sub. Feeding early helps assure a large foraging force when the flow starts, BUT, be prepared to provide agressive swarm managment. A hive bursting with bees at the begininig of April is a swarm waiting to happen, but is also necessary to take advantage of a short flow.
 
#38 ·
Confirmation things are way to warm, was inspecting all my fruit trees around the farm and noticed my early plum is trying to bloom. Not good she’s completely swollen and some of the higher buds are starting to open. Maple and rest of fruit trees have not. This plum is always 1-2 weeks ahead of all other fruit trees, but this is ridiculous. I hardly ever get fruit from her (late frost gets her blooms), but the bees are on her every late feb early March. You can hear the tree humming from 50 ft away in the earliest parts of spring.
 
#40 ·
I make them because I am cheap. I have purchased the Ultrabee pre-made patties before, but they can be pricey compared to just mixing them up yourself. Since I am using Ultrabee powder, I think nutritionally they are about the same with the homemade patties having a higher % crude protein by weight. I use a store brand apple cider vinagar, but make sure it is made from real apple cider. The addition of the vinigar, lemon juice, and citric acid is all supposed to help invert the sugar. Whether this works or is even necessary, I don't know. Half of today's batch will be on the hives tomorrow so I get a chance to see how the bees like this version.
 
#42 ·
I also open feed Ultrabee powder. When the bees are hitting it hard below 50°, I figure it is time to put the patties inside the hives. Similar to the idea posited in the water droplets thread, if the bees did not need it, they would not be out in sub-optimal temps to get it.
 
#43 ·
Inspected all 5 hives mon/tues. was about 55 here. All five hives had at least 2 frames of brood. Have had 2 solid orientation flights from all but 1 hive this year already. Solid amount of pollen coming in every day it seems to get above 50ish with sun. With the 10 day forecast having all but 1 day above 50 and multiple days in the 60’s, I see a fast and early build this year, moving up my time table on having everything rdy.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top