A Minnesota Beekeeper in Winter
March 17, 2018
48° today, so I thought I might just see where we are with Hive Stripe. My conclusion… Hive Stripe is a “Dead Hive Walking”. The cluster is very small. Maybe the size of my fist. I did see the queen, so they have that going for them. IF they can make it a few more weeks, they may just make it. I hope that they have enough population to start some brood production. If not, it is just a matter of time. Oh, and weather. If we have another subarctic blast, there is no way there is enough bees to keep them warm enough.
So, whether they make it or not, what did we learn from this past over wintering experience.
1. When you get a January thaw, you have to go in and move empty combs out and replace them with the honey combs on the ends of the hive.
2. The sugar on top idea was a flop. It did not collect any moisture (a good thing?) but it did make the hive a horrible mess.
3. February thaw, move honey closer to cluster.
I am thinking I should put the colony into the nuc hive...
Thanks for reading along.
