A Very Sad Day

Hello, Beelicious Readers.

Today is a very sad day. I got confirmation that our bees have died. We had a very strange Winter. February was very manic with temperatures and we hadn't seen any snow since December. Very odd for a Chicago Winter for sure. 

What caused their death? The Varroa Mite. This incredibly awful pest got to them before we could treat. I think we were about two weeks late in treating for them. Everything has changed with the climate being so whacked. Generally, you don't have to treat or do much other than make sure your bees have food during February. However, the Red Maples and Willow trees had started to bud almost a month early! It's really been a crazy Winter. I think if we had treated with Oxalic Acid in mid February versus the end of February our girls would've had a chance. 

I don't think there was anything more sad to me than this photo. To see hundreds and hundreds of dead bees was heartbreaking. They had all clustered in one area but some had broken free from the cluster and froze to death. The ones who were clustered definitely had some wing deformity which is one of the symptoms of disease Varroa Mites give to bees. 

They still had about a box and a half of honey too. We'll just feed this honey to the new bees we'll get in April. 

Queen Victoria will be replaced by Victoria II and hopefully she will have a longer reign. I will be very diligent with my treatments to make sure those little buggers never have their way with my bees again. I have removed all boxes and frames to sand and re-stain before our new colony arrives in mid-April. 

I've loved sharing all the amazing experiences with you guys this last year, but bad experiences have to be shared as well. I wanted to share the good, the bad and the ugly to show the many trials of beekeeping and hopefully you enjoyed the journey with me. If nothing else, I have learned a hard lesson and will not let this happen again.

We will continue to learn as beekeepers and will do our best to do right by the bees. Hopefully at this time next year I will be talking about how healthy the colony is and how it's ready to be split in two. 

Until next time, bee kind 🐝

January 21st and the Bees Are Out Flying!

Hello Beelicious Readers!

It's been a few months since I've written a post about our girls. I'm happy to report that not only are they still alive, today they were out taking cleansing flights! YAY! It was such a glorious sight to behold!

What is a cleansing flight? They go outside to poop! They will not poop inside their hive. Honeybees are such clean critters! If there is anything inside their house that doesn't belong, it is dragged out and disposed of. That includes bodily fluids. They will hold their poop for a long time in the winter so when days like today come around, they take full advantage and empty out.  

Winter can be a very hard time for honeybees. Our winters in Northern Illinois can be pretty miserable, too. We had our second subzero week about 10 days ago and I was nervous about them. I actually went to Tim's with a stethoscope to listen to the hives. I put it up to my hive first and I heard the happy hum of my girls clustering around Queen Victoria. I took the stethoscope to all of Tim's hives as well and heard the same happy sounds from them. It was a really joyful day. Tim had lost 2 hives earlier this winter so he was truly ecstatic that his other hives were alive and well.

This is our winter set up:

The black tarp is a wind guard that we set up before winter kicked in. It really helps keep the wind to a minimum.

Tim also made some quilted winter boards using burlap and pine shavings. It helps keep the moisture out of the hive. Bees can withstand the cold but a drop of water will kill them.

I have an insulated winter board that has candy in the top. It's called a Winter Bee Kind board. It insulates, ventilates and feeds the bees all in one box. It also gives them an upper entrance so they can do their cleansing flights if they are in the box eating. It's pretty great. So far it has worked as advertised.

Winter Bee Kind Board - www.honeybeesonline.com/8-frame-winter-bee-kind/

I took a little video today to show you all the happy flights of the honeybees. 

I hope you've enjoyed this little update. If the girls continue like this, I'm very optimistic that they will make it to Spring. I'll keep checking on them to make sure they still have enough honey and candy to survive. If not, there are winter patties I can put on the frames for them to eat until the flowers come out or it's warm enough for me to put out sugar syrup. Keep your fingers crossed for me that they make it!

Until next time, bee kind 🐝