Windy day

I wanted to open the hives today to check the queens and see if they're laying but the wind didn't cooperate. The bees were definitely busy, tho'. Lots of dark orange pollen and yellow pollen is being gathered which makes me think things must be going fairly well inside the hives. The oaks, pines and bleeding hearts are thick with pollen right now and the bees are always darting off for more.

As I mentioned, I am trying to raise these bees as holistically as possible. I cannot say organically for 2 basic reasons; polystyrene hives and plastic frames and foundation. Why did I choose these? Added insulation in winter and mite and hive beetle control. Last winter we had record snows–over 200" (60" is normal) and it stayed white from before Christmas until mid-March. I know of numerous local beeks that lost colonies last winter and I hope the extra insulation provided by the BeeMax polystyrene hive will help keep my bees sufficiently warm. The plastic frames and foundation was really recommended to me by Better Bee (www.betterbee.com). The plastic helps with hive beetles and mice damage versus wood and wax. The question is whether the bees like it. There are numerous posts on beesource.com about plastic, both good and bad. I decided to try it tho' it may be the first thing I decide to change for next year. I did paint all of the foundation with beeswax to help make the ladies want to draw out more comb. If the weather cooperates tomorrow, I'll get my first chance to see how I did.

Other differences between hives:
Hive one is large cell, black Pierco frames/foundation, painted with wax (see image above). I sprayed each frame with a 1:1 syrup mix with 4tsp of Honey-Bee-Healthy per quart to help entice the bees. As I closed each hive I added a Global pollen patty and a 4"x 5" piece of paper towel soaked in vegetable oil to help with Varroa mite control.

Hive two is is the same except the frames are white Mann Lake 100 small cell foundation and I sprinkled powered sugar on the bees when I hived them for mite control. Tho' a good way to knock mites off of the bees, overall, this probably was a bad idea as I had also sprayed the bees just prior to hiving and they were wet. Hive one was considerably more active days 1 - 3 compared to hive 2. On day 8, they appear fairly equal and I attribute the early difference to sugar coated bees don't fly...Pretty stupid on my part. I'm sure it won't be the last dumb thing I do as a bee landlord.