We're back!

I hate quoting Manny Ramierez but here's to starting the 2009 beekeeping season! After a long cold winter in New Hampshire, we finally have had 2 back to back days above 50º and the ladies have been grateful for the opportunity to get out.

Yesterday, I did a lift test to see how heavy the top super was on each hive. They each felt pretty heavy but I really wanted to make sure as late Feb-early March is a prime time for colonies that made it through the worst of winter to end up dying due to starvation. I decided to leave them alone and let them do their cleansing flights–after 4 months, they deserve it! Today was the day to open 'em up and take a look.

As you can see from the number of bees in fig 1 and 2, we've done very well with our hives this winter. The decision not to chemically treat for varroa or nosemea last fall and to stay true to raising the bees as naturally as possible worked out this time. No promises it will always work but after requeening in late summer, I thought I had 2 strong hives in October. I left hive 1 with almost a full deep of honey and added 2/3 of a medium for safety. Hive 2 had fewer bees and I left a full deep for them. That left me with 5 frames of honey. I put them in the freezer for 48 hours to kill anything on them and then stored the frames in an extra deep in the basement. I'll feed it back to them this Spring.

So how did we do? Well, the patty I snuck into each hive in January was still intact in Hive 1 but has almost gone in Hive 2 and each hive still has 1/2 super full of honey. I had planned on doing a feeding of dry sugar to help them through but by not being greedy and taking the honey from the last year, I didn't have to feed them at all today. If you check your bees and decide to do a feeding of dry sugar, make sure you only use granulated sugar and put it through a food processor to make it real fine. They will handle it a lot better, especially if you slightly wet the edges of the sugar mound where it sits on the newspaper.

In Hive 1, I did move frame 5 to position 10 and shifted the other frames over to get the honey closer to the bees. After all, it is only March 8th and we're getting more snow tonight. Getting that food next to them will keep 'em happy.

Admitedly, I'm quite pleased with the way the bees came through their first winter. Keeping bees is a challenge and by asking questions, doing a lot of reading, keeping good records and observing your hives you can help improve the health of your colonies. Figure 3 and 4 are random close-ups of each hive. I saw no signs of of nosema in the hives and these ladies look pretty healthy. I do not see any mites and their wings look healthy. As Gayla's dad says, "Good Lord willing and if the creek don't rise" we're on our way to another summer of learning, swearing, puzzlement, wonderment and hopefully adding 2 more hives. Oh, yeah...and a few more bee stings. Come on Spring!