Oh well, I've done it again. As of Jan 28th I'm officially bee-less. Only 2 living bees and one isn't a queen. Taking them to the basement only prolonged the inevitable I guess. I'm thinking that they died of thirst, but who knows. They had been dwindling since the fall but I could not pinpoint the reason, but now I think the queen was a failure from the beginning as the buildup of the hive never really happened. Afternoons would only see 50-60 new bees out for their test flights. Oh well, ordered new stock from upstate, will be here in May. Going to try a very hygenic cross this time. I'm also going to set out a bee trap this spring, if that works I'll have a couple of hives going. They say that with two hives you might save one good one, lets hope. I have 2 extra empty hives just waiting, one being a traditional top bar.
From the hive I gathered about 25 Lbs of honey, very rich and dark. Plan on making some strawberry mead with it. have made wine in the past, but mead will be the first. I tasted some from a friend in Minnesota last fall and it was supperb.
Heading up to Olive for a bee seminar on the 11th of Feb, should be fun to see how everyone else is making out.
Last blog now till the spring. Later
From the hive I gathered about 25 Lbs of honey, very rich and dark. Plan on making some strawberry mead with it. have made wine in the past, but mead will be the first. I tasted some from a friend in Minnesota last fall and it was supperb.
Heading up to Olive for a bee seminar on the 11th of Feb, should be fun to see how everyone else is making out.
Last blog now till the spring. Later
Pete,
ReplyDeleteI think I'm done for too, haven't seen any activity from the hive. Just a lot of dead bee's . Will placing my order with mike aswell. Oh well this is a live and learn hobby.
I get it right this season, lol.