Thanks jim,
Bees have been flying like crazy for about 3 days bringing in pollen. Was wondering if it shortens life span.
MickeyN.C. The weather was warm here in North Mississippi the last couple days but has dropped enough that the bees are staying put so far today. My bees were flying like crazy also the last three days. I am wondering the same question as you. This is my first year beekeeping, yours also? There is so much to learn. In another topic, Michale warned of the following in his area, of course this was intended for early drone buildup but I am thinking the words should apply here? And I quote "Rearing brood too early, in my climate, often results in bees being stuck on brood in a cold snap and starving as a result of not leaving the brood.' I don't know if the few warn days will promote early laying by the queen to put us in this type danger. Beepro is in another area, and says he already has capped brood! Of course he is in California, though i'm not sure of the latitude and longitude where he is located. But back to our situation, In our general area, this may be a different issue. Live Oak is form about the same general area as we are. Though he and yourself are east and a little north of me. Actually you may be a little further north than he. Maybe he will chime in with his experience? Maybe some of the other folks that are seasoned keepers form our similar longitude and latitude will chime in and tell of there experiences. No doubt that different beekeepers do things different, and have ways and ideas of what is right, but, no doubt, what they do works for their operation, Different view points and ideas are always welcome and interesting, right?
Thanks, Phillip Hall
Very sorry for the late reply Phillip,
I have been real busy in the apiary insulating hives, feeding 85 gallons of sugar syrup, and just today finished insulating the inner covers of my nucleus colonies.
In our latitude, the temperatures cycle between cold and warm enough for the bees to fly and forage. Because of this, the cluster uses a lot more of the hive resources than a hive in a very cold climate that stays inside the hive all winter in cluster. Because of this, you have to keep a close eye on the sugar syrup/honey stores inside the hive and supplementally feed as needed. I use the Mann Lake big blue plastic Pro Feeders and feed my colonies Ultra Bee. I put out about 14 of those feeders and put about 5 lbs. of Ultra Bee in each feeder for the bees to consume. That way it stays fresh.
On warm days my bees come out ravenous and raid the Ultra Bee feeders like honey bee tornado's. I learned to put out the Ultra Bee for the bees over time as I observed that if I did not make some type of pollen substitute available, the bees would get into everything look for pollen including saw dust, wood chips, chicken feed, etc. They are very hungry after several days inside the hive after a cold spell and they are going to find something to eat so I figured it best to feed them something as close as possible to natural pollen. I buy the Ultra Bee in the 1,500 lb. totes so that brings the price down a good bit. Good nutrition, IPM, and winterizing the hives is very important and will go a long ways to minimizing hive losses.
Because of the constant breaking and reforming cluster, I feel my bees need as much insulation on the hive as I possibly can install to mitigate temperature stress and the queens will lay small amounts of brood in the larger hives and the insulation helps to keep the temperature inside the hive more stable minimizing large temperature swings.
I make the Ultra Bee available to the bees year round. The sugar syrup/sugar patty mix I make available all Winter and during droughts. When Spring arrives and natural pollen and nectar is available, the bees will ingore the Ultra Bee and to a good degree the sugar syrup but I remove the syrup when nectar is available so as not to adulterate the honey and natural nectar is best for them.
I will be leaving the hive insulation on until May this season. Got caught with my pants down last season after several days in the 80's and I figured it was late April and no more chance of a hard freeze and removed the insulation. Mother Natural showed me she can do it. Lost 12 of my biggest and most productive hives that heavily brooded up due to the hard freeze. I keep R-19 insulation above the inner cover and at least a Bee Cozy on the 8 and 10 frame hives. I am experimenting with some Easy-On Beehive covers but I think they need more insulation. On my nucs, I currently have R-19 or better on top of the inner cover and may push them all together and wrap them in Reflectix bubble insulation in several layers. Hive ventilation is VERY important as well. I place an Immerie Shim with an upper entrance notch under the inner cover for ventilation and an upper entrance. Right now I have them removed from the nucs due to robbing but plan to reinstall them later.
