My package hive numbers look alright, but there aren't enough bees to overwinter. I checked some of the frames today and noticed that there are also frames with no drawn foundation. There are no honeycombs on some of my wax. This means in the winter, the bees won't have comb to insert themselves into. In the winter they form what's called a winter cluster and they won't be able to do this on bare foundation. So, on top of a poorly laying queen, now I have to figure out how to get them to draw out the rest of the foundation. I'm feeding a LOT, this weak hive still has no stores as far as I can tell. Maybe they are so weak they are getting constantly robbed?
I'm going to Costco today to get two big bags of sugar. I'm going to check EVERY day to see if they are taking it. I've also got an email out to my mentor to see if I need to be supplementing with pollen patties. I have two emails out to see if anyone has a replacement queen.
My last resort will be to merge the two hives.
Surely I've made every mistake that a newbie can make. Seems like my friends from class have all done a great job with their hives and their bees are thriving.
Today I also applied the Dowda method of mite treatment and covered my bees with powdered sugar. It was sort of cute seeing little white bees flying around!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment