[Westerfeld Bee Farm]

I am located in East/Central Missouri and we are currently in a cold stretch (and it looks like it remain that way for an extended period of time). Last weekend was in the 60's and Monday even touched low 70's. I resisted the urge to pull frames and inspect my colonies (I figured there wasn't much I could do if I encountered a problem), but know several others decided to inspect. For those who are in a similar weather pattern right now, do you feel better or worse after taking a look at your colonies but having to play the waiting game for warm weather to return?

 

[Jim Braun]

I'm in Montgomery County, Mo. Last year I put on insulation and didn't remove it until 3/16/22/. This year looks like it might be a little later for me to remove the insulation. The temperature hit 72F then but was below 60F before then. Keep notes! By the way I add sugar blocks to insure they don't starve before then. I was at our Troy, Mo meeting last night and the people who went into their hives said they still had honey but the bees took sugar anyway. Most of them said 3 or 4 frames of brood were common.

 

[Marcin]

Most of them said 3 or 4 frames of brood were common.

Frames of mixed brood or capped brood?
Here in NE Illinois, I'm seeing ~ 4 inch circles of capped brood on 1.5 frames roughly.

 

[Hoot Owl Lane Bees]

My hives are around Ozark and Nixa and all I did was add to the mtcamp sugar. No sense in doing a deep inspection yet. The next warm day above 60 I will be hitting them in ernest.

 

[GregB]

Been inspecting thru the winter and know the ongoing status.
Once/month is a good convention to follow.

Inspection <> pulling frames, to be sure.
Inspection may or may not include pulling frames.

 

[southern_bee_space]

I feel great knowing that I have 10 days where I need to go back in to see if any new queen cells were made.
I got to say, I was semi surprised yesterday when I found 2 laying queens in a 2 deep 1 super setup that I recently upgraded them from a tall NUC. I'm so thankful I added a queen excluder prior, I honestly was shocked to see 2 sets of eggs from different queens this time of year.

Piedmont NC

 

[animal1x]

East central Mississippi. Been checking once or twice a month all winter long when temps allowed, and been doing OA vapor treatments. This time of year I'm getting ready to make my first splits. I've also heard of people already catching swarms here and further south.

 

[little_john]

Eastern British mainland - have been monitoring external hive activity throughout this warm Winter - all are alive. Country is currently experiencing sub-zero temps and snowfall (fortunately fairly token so far in this immediate area). Food indicators and warm Crown Boards (Inner Covers) suggest brood-rearing is already well underway, but hives will not be opened until weather moderates. Then we'll see what we will see.
LJ

 

[drummerboy]

In Northern Wisconsin we're just making sure there's enough food, no frame pulling yet, still too cold.

 

[Westerfeld Bee Farm]

I'm in Montgomery County, Mo. Last year I put on insulation and didn't remove it until 3/16/22/. This year looks like it might be a little later for me to remove the insulation. The temperature hit 72F then but was below 60F before then. Keep notes! By the way I add sugar blocks to insure they don't starve before then. I was at our Troy, Mo meeting last night and the people who went into their hives said they still had honey but the bees took sugar anyway. Most of them said 3 or 4 frames of brood were common.

I am about an hour east of you in St. Charles. I inspected on 3/16/22 last year as well. With the mild winter I just feel behind even though we are still in late winter. I have been feeding 2:1 on my light colonies since mice January to try and get them through. Hopefully I can get them all through this cold strech and into Spring so I can make splits.

 

[Gray Goose]

still snow on the ground here
first inspections are 3 ish weeks out

GG

 

[HTB]

Already made splits and several colonies came out of "winter" with a fair bit of honey. In floriduh 😂. Hoping to double my honey production this year and looking good with more full size colonies going in to my fist major nectar flow next month.

 

[podunk]

Midwest roller coaster 69 Monday 40 tomorrow. Looked into one hive that wasn't bringing in much pollen, found a small group of open and capped brood so assuming it's queenright. Other hives just making sure they have some sugar bricks if needed.

 

[ursa_minor]

Too cold, that said I have periodically checked them thru the clear upper cover to monitor sugar consumption. So far all are alive and well. My first deep dive is a few months away.

 

[Alto Beek]

I am located in East/Central Missouri and we are currently in a cold stretch (and it looks like it remain that way for an extended period of time). Last weekend was in the 60's and Monday even touched low 70's. I resisted the urge to pull frames and inspect my colonies (I figured there wasn't much I could do if I encountered a problem), but know several others decided to inspect. For those who are in a similar weather pattern right now, do you feel better or worse after taking a look at your colonies but having to play the waiting game for warm weather to return?

had a couple of consecutive days above 55 degrees so i thought I'd check the hives. #4 had too many bees outside to mess with so ... on to #2 - few bees outside so got tempted to look inside. I was amazed at how many bees were in there(2 X deep). Good winter survival rate.
Top box, pulled frame 6, absolutely covered. Pulled frame 2, some bees and some capped???. Didn't really know what I was looking at and didn't want to keep the hive open for too long. Bees taking fondant and some protein/pollen patty. Long story short, I was delighted with the number of bees so to avoid overcrowding added new frames to the super - time will tell - learning as I go. Still too cold overnight for syrup, still feeding fondant, maybe end of March? Will check another hive next time we get a few warm days (with no wind).

 

[Jim Braun]

Marcin, Three frames full of capped brood. We're 2-3 weeks ahead of you I'd guess. Biloxi, Mississippi youtube beek Has capped queen cells she's putting into mating nucs. Location, Location, Location.

 

[PFiji]

It's currently 4 degrees in Northern Michigan. All excited because today was fire up day for the maple syrup rig. Setup the reverse osmosis, made sure everything was running good and stepped away. Only to comeback and find my lines had frozen solid.

Added sugar to my hives on February 11th. Debating opening them up again next weekend to add more just for peace of mind. Might just let it ride and see what happens as well.

 

[drummerboy]

Worst maple syrup season in recent memory, mainly due to the 2-3' of snow remaining in the woods.....and my old and broken body.

In other years we'd already be boiling by now, but it hasn't been consistently warm enough for sap to flow.

Our Maples in northern Wisconsin are still a ways from flowering and our bees won't be flying or taking any syrup unless it starts warming/staying above 50F during the day. However, They are chowing down the fondant

 

[elmer_fud]

my remaining hive is not very strong. They are flying a bit though so I know they are still alive. They have enough food so I do not see any reason to disrupt them until it is consitently warmer and they start really building up.

 

[AR1]

Our Maples in northern Wisconsin are still a ways from flowering and our bees won't be flying or taking any syrup unless it starts warming/staying above 50F during the day. However, They are chowing down the fondant

Here in N Illinois, just saw maples flowering yesterday. I'd expect you'd be a few weeks after us, but probably different species.