Important Beekeeping Tips to Remember

Pollen and nectar are two different sources of nutrition for honeybees. Even though the bees are now hauling in local pollen, I never remove sugar water until dandelions have appeared in prolific numbers. I have been topping off my sugar water every three days.  Hives with most frames fully drawn out with honeycomb, may need another brood box. I add my second brood box to the bottom of the hive since heat rises and cool falls. I want to keep my baby bees warm and it makes it easier to fill the feeder as well. We are adding second boxes on Sunday 4/30/17. Anyone who wants to observe this can meet at our house at 2:30 PM to shadow Dan. He will complete full hive checks as well. I will be out of state from 4/29/17 through 5/11/17 and will respond to emails every few days. dcogan1@alaska.edu

Nine Successful Hive Checks Today!

Today we found all seven of our queens healthy and laying eggs in full patterns. We also checked a couple hives of one of our students and both were doing fantastic. We topped off sugar water and will continue to fill feeders every 3-4 days until we see abundant dandelions. The bees are beginning to store pollen in the wax cells. This week is a great time to check for evidence of a well-bred queen. At least one frame should have eggs and very young larva. If there is no evidence of a queen and you can't find your queen then you may need to requeen your hive. If so, give me a call at (907)460-6050.

Below are two photos of what I am seeing on my frames at this time. Also, I am posting some photos of possible undesirable colony situations.

Healthy pattern of eggs (1-2 days old)

Healthy Larva (7-10 days old)

\

Spotty (Poor) Queen Pattern

Dead Queen - Laying Worker Eggs (Kill Bees!)