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Conditions allowed me to check my TF yard yesterday and what I found was disappointing.
Of 4 full colonies and 3 double nucs, 1 colony made it through. The colony that survived was in three deeps.
The wind had blown 1 nuc (strapped) into another causing the boxes to separate creating a gap for the cold and wind.
These were BeeWeaver Bees started from Packages in 2012 and their descendants.
The remaining hive will be moved to another yard and treated as IPM indicates. I intend to make some queens from the surviving colony.
A treated yard half a mile away fared similarly with one survivor out of eight.
I've been using purchased stock for my TF yard (first Russian and then BeeWeaver) and my pockets aren't deep enough to have another go.
Mite counts were low last September (tested by alcohol wash.)
I am in hopes that one day robust TF bees will be commonly available.
Of 4 full colonies and 3 double nucs, 1 colony made it through. The colony that survived was in three deeps.
The wind had blown 1 nuc (strapped) into another causing the boxes to separate creating a gap for the cold and wind.
These were BeeWeaver Bees started from Packages in 2012 and their descendants.
The remaining hive will be moved to another yard and treated as IPM indicates. I intend to make some queens from the surviving colony.
A treated yard half a mile away fared similarly with one survivor out of eight.
I've been using purchased stock for my TF yard (first Russian and then BeeWeaver) and my pockets aren't deep enough to have another go.
Mite counts were low last September (tested by alcohol wash.)
I am in hopes that one day robust TF bees will be commonly available.