BeeKeeper's Corner
Beekeeper’s Corner - Winter
January
The beekeeper is enjoying her vacation south of the equator…
And in real life the beekeeper is getting a bit restless by now, with the bees safely tucked away for the winter. After making sure the bees have enough food, there is some cleaning and refurbishing of frames, supers, brood boxes, covers and equipment to do. Preferably next to a wood stove with a cup of hot tea. Keep a good bee book handy.
The bees are few compared to the broiling hub from summertime, just the Queen and her workers. They eat honey from their stores and stay clustered together for warmth, no matter how cold on the outside the inside of the hive is a balmy 92 degrees. On warmer days, they will fly out for a cleansing flight (a potty break). The hive is the cleanest natural home of any animal.
If it looks like an early spring, the colony should be medicated and fed a few weeks before the first blossoms appear. Please stop all chemical medication treatments five to six weeks BEFORE adding honey supers. Also, consider feeding your bees pollen substitute to strengthen the hive and stimulate egg laying in the queen.
February
The beekeeper continues to enjoy her vacation moving north to the Carribbean...
And in real life she makes sure all equipment is clean and ready for use. It is a good time to refer to all the notes taken on the hives throughout the year and formulate a loosely structured game plan. Now’s the time to remember what to do and what not to do in the coming year. As winter crawls to an end on a sunny, warm day (close to 50 degrees & no wind) inspect hives for sufficient food stores, and see if the queen is laying. If the bees are shy on food feed them 1:1 sugar water and once again consider feeding pollen patties or pollen substitute to stimulate the Queen to lay eggs. Medicate for nosema with Fumidil-B in your sugar water, along with Honey B Healthy tonic for bees. Once again, please stop all chemical medication treatments five to six weeks BEFORE adding honey supers.
The Bees continue to take their cleansing flights and keep snuggled together, however they are in the ready room and will take off at the first sign of pollen, which most likely will be Red Maple here in South Carolina.