Worldwide Beekeeping

Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: pistolpete on January 16, 2014, 04:43:10 pm

Title: A great day: all hives still alive.
Post by: pistolpete on January 16, 2014, 04:43:10 pm
The weather warmed up to +5C here yesterday, so I checked on my 3 hives.  All of them seem to be doing well, though all the clusters are up against the top cover.  We still have 2 months of winter left, so I'm not in the clear, but 100% survival would be sweet.  I've ordered a couple of queens just to be on the safe side though. 
Title: Re: A great day: all hives still alive.
Post by: GLOCK on January 16, 2014, 05:40:58 pm
That's great sure does make ya feel good.
I have not lost any also and am hoping for 100% survival.
If that happens I might think I know what I'm doing.
Last year I lost 45% by this time and that was out of 19 this year I have 25 ;D
Good luck
Title: Re: A great day: all hives still alive.
Post by: LazyBkpr on January 17, 2014, 12:46:59 am
YAY, lets hope it stays that way!!! I have already lost one, but pretty much expected it.
Title: Re: A great day: all hives still alive.
Post by: Jen on January 17, 2014, 12:31:38 pm
So far so good here! We're going thru another freezing snap tho.
Title: Re: A great day: all hives still alive.
Post by: Woody Roberts on January 18, 2014, 10:03:21 pm
We had a little break in the weather here this week and all hives are still with us. There's one at the neighbors I didn't check but it went into winter plenty heavy so I suspect it's alright.
Five hives I started in late summer did not get as heavy as I would have liked, I put sugar blocks on a couple sometime back. I felt they were heavy enough but their an hour away and I don't get down there as much as I should.
These late summer starts may not eat much in the winter but when spring buildup starts they'll need some help pronto.

I personally like to build my nucs after the summer solstice. The flow is pretty much over here by then and I have lots of bees with nothing to do. I can usually get these into a ten frame deep by winter. If they come thru in good shape it's unreal how fast they buildup in the spring. Woody