[Bees In Miami]

Just landed in New England yesterday afternoon...at my Mothers home just south of Boston. She presently has 3 colonies. One over wintered, but the queen pooped out in spring...so she newspaper combined a 5 frame nuc a few weeks ago. They rebounded beautifully, and are presently in 1 deep and 2 mediums...no restrictions to the queen. She also installed two packages in early April using entirely drawn comb from a winter dead out. They have done AMAZING. 4 mediums each, no restriction to queen. Nice little clusters of bees tonight on all 3 landings. Not what I would call bearding by any means, but the colonies look awesome. Where I need help...I KNOW Florida beekeeping and flows...but have NO/ZERO clue in New England. I know she gave two hives more room a week ago...(with 5 frames in a 10 frame box...) Yeah, I'll fix that quick! Question is...where are you at in South East New England as far as flow goes? I have NO clue... How many more boxes can I advise her they may fill? How much equipment do I need to build? I want to help her best I can while I am visiting...she's an amazing lady! I want to advise her properly so hopefully this year, she over winters all 3! (I give her credit for getting ONE hive through that last brutal winter!!) She's got a bunch of honey presently, but how much is too much to pull? She took ZERO honey last year, and don't want to know what she spent in sugar getting them prepped for winter...seriously... She has not fed AT ALL this spring. She does have about 30 frames of capped sugar water stored from winter...lol...so no need for sugar this year! According to her, they are pretty close to honey bound...but not knowing the Northern flow, I don't know how to advise. (I have not seen in the hives yet...I just arrived...but I can say I trust her newbee judgement. She has learned well, and quickly!) Any and all input much appreciated!!! (And I will add...she is an amazing 75+ going on 40!) I am proud of her, and want to know how to best advise, for her, and her bees! (it is all MY fault she has bees!!! She caught the bee flu from me in Florida! ) . Any advice you have, I'll take it! Thanks!

 

[My-smokepole]

Out of nw Ohio there should be one on now

 

[hedges]

I'm in the next town over from you. My understanding is that we have a reasonable spring flow everywhere and then a dearth in the end of July/early august. In early August through late September, there are half a dozen plants in the area which produce lots of nectar. The question would be whether shes near those plants or not.

My experience last year was that the bees didn't need much more than the brood chamber (three boxes), but I fed candy boards. If she was concerned about the bees eating off their surplus during the dearth she could remove and freeze her honey and feed through the dearth...and then reevaluate in September when the flows stop (she might need more boxes to add, she might need to feed syrup, she might give them back the frozen honey), or she should just wait until September to pull.

Pm me if you have any other questions.

 

[Bob J]

hedges is right..... All beekeeping is local and depends a lot on what is in the foraging range of her bees.... I'm in Quincy and am still in a flow here but am not sure if that will be the same where she is....

 

[camero7]

I have a flow going in Sutton - mainly sumac. I have no flow in Spencer and a small one in West Brookfield. I guess you'll need to observe to see what's going on in the hives. Here in NE we generally get a good fall flow that starts in early August and runs though first frost. Mainly goldenrod in my yards. We also get a nice pollen flow from it which helps the bees brood up for winter.