Mailing list for the Person County Beekeepers Association, Roxboro, NC

[Randall Austin <s.randall.austin AT gmail.com>]

Donna,

The rule of thumb that I try very hard to practice (often unsuccessfully) is, "never open up a hive unless you have a reason for doing so." That means that even though the weather has been nice, I have resisted the temptation to inspect my hives, other than inspecting the comings-and-goings from the outside and checking the weight by lifting. Why do I say this? The reason is that there is very little if anything productive or constructive you can do to a hive in the middle of winter. I feel that combining at this time of year is a bad idea --- it would be easier and just as useful to simply throw away the weak hive. You can't requeen because queens aren't available. You can't (or at least shouldn't) treat for mites. You may be able to rearrange the configuration of the frames ASSUMING you know more about what the bees need than the bees do (which I don't).

Also, what you find in mid January may be very misleading. I wouldn't expect egg-laying to be too far advanced yet (maybe no eggs at all), although it could be. If the cluster is "small" (but not pitiful) that may actually be a good thing --- they'll likely have plenty of food left. So all you can really say with certainty is whether they are "dead" or "not dead", and you can tell that from the outside.

For my purposes (which of course my vary from someone else's) the only practical reason to do an in-hive inspection in winter is if the flight activity makes me suspect that the hive has failed. Then the action I can take is to get my name on the list for a package of bees to replace it (first come, first served!).

So if your goals are like mine, my advice is to do nothing except feed as needed. Reverend Langstroth said, "Sometimes the worst thing you can do is 'something'."

FYI, I have had measly hives come out of the winter and take off like a rocket in spring, in plenty of time for the mid-April tulip poplar flow. As long as there is a critical mass of bees I wouldn't count them out until they are really gone. The question is, what constitutes a critical mass? Sorry, I don't have the answer! It all depends. But where there's life, there's hope!

Randall




On 1/14/2013 10:04 AM, donnasteen AT yahoo.com wrote:

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Background/Update:
I have one weak hive and one weaker hive. :(  In the fall I made a sugar pie (cake) for each.  I can't tell what the smallest hive has eaten from the under side.  The larger hive has eaten the complete "sugar pie."  I gave them another "sugar pie" yesterday, and last week I gave both hives about a 4x4 piece of pollen patty cut into two pieces.  Yesterday bees were on the pollen patties in both hives.  And the larger hive was flying but a rare one came back with pollen.  The smaller hive wasn't flying except for an occasional bee. 

Question:  Should I be looking for eggs before we go into a cold February and March? 
My confusion:
    I don't want to disturb them unnecessarily.
    The NCSBA Calendar says Red Maples blooming by early February.
    And we are to have the hives ready--checking for disease, food supply, "and if the queen is laying."
    If it is COLD in February, should I be doing any checking TODAY?  Would there be eggs today?
    I have, of course, supplied them with food and am not afraid to quickly add food during a cold Feb.
    BUT DO YOU REALLY LOOK FOR EGGS DURING A COLD FEBRUARY??

Bottom Line:  What should I do today since it is so warm?

Question: Should I combine even now my weakest colony with my medium strength colony?

NOTE:  Mr. Bailey from Bailey Bee Supply Co. (bought out Tapp) told me even now I should combine my very weak hive with my stronger hive. 

BUT that means finding and killing the queen of the weak hive, which I have never done and would be experimenting -- learning how to do.  Maybe that would be a good experience for me!

BUT, I also fear it would cause trauma to my other hive which isn't all that big itself--so I don't want to have them use up their energy "welcoming a new colony." 

I'll appreciate someone straightening out my confusion.

I think veteran bee keepers would trash both my colonies, but I want to see if it is possible to save them.

Thanks,
Donna

PS I know I may not get a response till it is too late for today. I sought for answers yesterday, and didn't expect it to be so warm today.  No problem if no one sees this or has time for a short response.

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