Really really light colored honey. It was only a third capped but the hive is completely full. The weight has actually been going down in this hive but not because there isn’t a flow on. Unlimited blooms still around here. Clover just started among other things. All 6 frames were 99% full, just not capped so I took the 2 most capped to give them space to free up the brood nest which has too much honey in. Given the way last year went I am quite pleased. 2 other hives are almost full as well with a 4th hive at 50%.
The honey was just a touch under 20% moisture which I am not surprised at since it wasn’t all capped. I will dehydrate it some in my oven dehydrator to get closer to 18%.
A local farmer put in some buckwheat: As soon as I saw these fields, I went to my closest hives to check and harvested 90-100 lbs. of buckwheat honey. Interesting stuff and a taste that takes getting used to:
Dark almost black. A little like molasses. Probably good on pancakes. I tried some once.
I just harvested what should be my last for the year. Another 3 gallons or so. Ended up my best year yet. Hives were healthy at the rights times this years. Makes a big difference. Treating for mites now and will start feeding in a few weeks although the hives have a lot of honey in the brood boxes already.
Nice! I love buckwheat honey & have been thinking about fencing off a barren area near the coop to plant some buckwheat. There’s a dark pink variety that’s very pretty. Once the bees have their fill I can let the chickens into it - and then soil gets tilled & can be planted!
I’ve had some buckwheat honey I thought was delicious and other that had a bad aftertaste. I always wondered if the delicious stuff was mixed with something else or if the stuff with the bad aftertaste was… I’m guessing the latter.
Here we go! Loads of saffron and cream-colored pollen coming in - somewhere there are crocuses and snowdrops blooming, and possibly some tree-forage already too
MA: Checked both hives yesterday. Good amount of honey left, but added some sugar & a small square of patty to both. They were bringing in yellow pollen (I assume Witch Hazel) and bright orange (no clue what that was…possibly very early crocus?). Not over the hump by any means, but encouraging signs all the same.
Taking some losses this winter. 3 of 5 are dead. Plenty of honey, pretty sure it was mites. I did not treat in Feb like I usually do. A month ago one had died but the other 4 were full of bees. As full and healthy as they seemed I wasn’t too worried about them. Then 2 more died. Actually the one has a few bees, sadly trying to nurse the few brood that were there but too few bees left and probably no queen.
I gave the 2 remaining a good does of oxalic. I am guessing they will make it but who knows. I will order one package just in case.
Suppose to be 60’s next week so they should get to stretch their wings a bit.
I don’t think so. We have had a very warm winter this year in my area.
I will add I neglected to put the foam insulation on top of the hives and there was some mold inside. I usually put them on to keep condensation from form on the roof. Other than that I think it was mites. The one hive that has a few left I saw a mite on one of the alive ones.
We’re not out of the woods yet: With these warm temperatures the queens are laying good: A few cold days without forage and starvation can occur because the bees won’t move off the brood to where the honey is.
March is the worst month for colony loss imo.
That stinks, really sorry about your dead colonies. I had two strong colonies going into fall, vaped on a regular schedule & one was dead last month. When I took apart the hive I saw that almost all the OA had recrystalized in a small circle on the screened bottom right above where the wand was…so my last treatment basically did nothing.
Ed is right, I think the late spring is so dicey for all the creatures waking up, venturing out and migrating back - especially with how erratic our winter season has been. @JeffH we’re a good distance away from the upstate NY area you noted, and though it’s not unheard of for us to get big snowfalls and ice storms, we had next to nothing but rain here all winter this year. Today it’s 73F where I am, at least ten degrees above average. The trees and flowers are just now catching up in force, so it’s better than a month ago when we had warm days and nothing blooming.
Losses are just a part of bee keeping. That’s why I keep 4-6 hives around when I really only want 2-3.
I ordered one package of bees just in case but I believe at least 1 if not both of the remaining hives will make it. I fogged them pretty good with the oxalic.
True enough! Hey I found a feral hive in a oak tree on my property, no idea the size but maybe I could catch a swarm from it this season. Thinking I’ll put some boxes out here and down near the woods a little ways from my neighborhood.
