Warm spell

I put the feed buckets back on today. Low is in the high thirties the rest of the week, according to the forecast.

Another cold spell

It's a blustery stormy day today. There were white caps on the Allegheny River. The hawthorns and magnolias are in bloom.

The weather is going down to 27 degrees tonight, so I flipped the feeder pails over to keep them from dripping on the bees.

Warm spell and feed

I put 4 pounds of sugar each, 8 pounds total, on the Ambrosium and Josephium. It looks like we have a warm spell coming up.

Cold Spell

We have a cold spell coming up according to Google weather and Channel 11, so I took the feeder pails off. The Josephium has slurped up all its syrup; the Ambrosium has slurped up almost nothing.

Warm winter and an opportunity to feed.

Last month we had a really warm couple of days, so I split a four pound bag of sugar between the Ambrosium and Josephium. They both seemed happy and healthy and bringing in pollen, maple, I guess.

Today it's really warm again, and it looks like we will have a really warm week. The two surviving hives look happy and healthy with plenty of pollen going in, so I added a bag of sugar in syrup pails to each.

Mele Kalikimaka: Born to die

It was warm and rainy today, temperature in the mid to upper sixties. I was teaching the kids the words to Mele Kalikimaka, which they loved. It's not a song I've thought about in ages, but today reminded me of Christmases in Hawaii - warm and wet.

I went out to look at the bees. The Ambrosium and Josephium were abuzz with activity, but there was not much going on in the Benedictium. So I opened it up. It was loaded with dead bees, and there were a few live ones too, which may have been robbers. I pulled out three frames full of pretty dark honey - I guess we'll have a winter harvest - and closed up the hive as tight as I could. I guess we'll be spending another $100 on a Russian queen and three pounds of bees this spring.

Winter prep and more feed

I took a look at the hives today; it was 50 degrees, just a bit too cold for much activity. The Ambrosium and the Josephium had emptied their feed buckets, which surprised me, so I refilled them with 4 lbs of sugar each: 2 x $2.19. In the coming week, the temperatures should get up to 60.

I have seen little activity over the last month from the Benedictium, so I've been worried about it. When I looked in the attic, it was abuzz with activity, but they had not taken any of their feed. So I removed their attic with its feeding pail and reduced the hive to two deeps.