Bee Space!!! It's Time for Making Changes to hives!

FEEDING: My honeybees have plenty of natural pollen now, so i pull out any pollen patties. I keep a couple extra pollen patties in my freezer and thaw them out to room temperature if I see any more than four days of bad weather (stormy, below 50*, rain, wind). Carniolan queens may slow egg laying when food supplies wane. I have removed sugarwater feeders and replaced them with frames. New Hive(s)? If you started with bare foundation, however, you may want to feed sugar water for a couple more weeks because this helps honeybees excrete more wax and build comb faster than they will if they have to forage for all the nectar to build the comb. 

UPPER ENTRANCE: I just recently flipped my inner lid so the upper entrance is on the bottom of the lid now that it is warm enough. 

• LOWER ENTRANCE: My entrance reducers are set at the medium setting overnight and can be pulled completely out on days that are 45* and above. I keep watching the weather all the time to make sure I reduce the entrance if a cold snap is coming. Jack Frost is a sneaky guy and we have to be on guard for freezing temperatures.

• BEE SPACE: I have added a second brood box to all of my hives, placing the new box on the bottom board and raising the original box, which should now be full of brood, sugar water, and pollen.

• INSULATION: My internal insulation has been removed and replaced with frames. External insulation can be removed as soon as no fear of frost exists.

• EXPANDING THE BROOD NEST: I take a couple frames with a lot of pupa cells out of the original box and place them in the middle of the new brood box (on the bottom). When these bees hatch out of their cells, they will go to work in the box they were born in.

• TOP BAR KEEPERS: I keep feeding sugar water until the second or third week of June for the same reason stated above.

• NEXT CHANGE: In two to three weeks I will swap the brood boxes, placing the top box on the bottom board and the bottom box will be moved to the top.

• HIVE CHECKS: I can now place regularly scheduled hive checks on my calendar for every 10-12 days. If I make the mistake of waiting longer than 10-12 days to complete a hive check, my colonies are in danger of swarming. If I take the risk of completing hive checks any more often than 10 days, I run the risk of smashing too many bees and especially the queen. 
• Keep grass and weeds trimmed in front of the hive entrance! If you have a piece of carpet, this makes a great "front yard" for bees that keeps plants from growing too tall in front of the hive entrance.

• WATER: I make sure my bees have a great water source nearby. If no natural source exists, I create a container with twigs, rocks, and moss so the bees won't drown in standing water.

Bee Space and Moving Colonies to Summer Locations

I picked up and hived my bees on April 17th - Easter Sunday. 

All five colonies have a laying queen. 

I have kept each colony in one deep brood box to help them survive this cold snap we've been experiencing. 

Every colony has been fed 1:1 sugar to water four times and I had to replace pollen patties since the bees devoured the first patties about a week ago. 

My honeybees have been kept warm by having the entrance reducer set on the smallest setting and insulation around all four sides of the brood box and inside the telescoping lid and under the bottom board. 

I am preparing to move my colonies from my home at a high elevation, to three different locations in downtown Fairbanks. There are more abundant flora and natural water sources at lower elevations. Moving colonies will be accomplished at night after the bees are all inside their hive. I cover entrances with a window screen, stapling the screen to the wood so bees cannot and will not escape while transported. 

Then I place a ratchet strap around the entire box, bottom board, and lids, making sure this is ratcheted very tight. They will be loaded into a utility vehicle and driven to their new summer home.

Once the bees are in their summer location, I will wait until 50* or warmer to add a second box below the first brood box. 

When the weather warms up to above freezing temperatures all day and night, we can pull a couple frames of brood down into the empty brood box because when those bees hatch out, they will go to work building and repairing wax honeycomb in the lower brood box, preparing the cells for the queen to lay eggs. If you place eggs and larva into an empty box when temperatures are below 40*, colonies can develop chalkbrood. The remedy for chalkbrood is better maintenance by keeping the bees warm and fed.

I am making sure to fill internal feeders with sugar water every 3-5 days. Letting the colony run out of sugar water increases the risk of colony collapse. 

Pretty soon, we will slow down with feeding sugar water so the bees don't pack every available cell with sugar water, causing the queen to be "honey-bound" which occurs when she has no empty cells in which to lay her eggs. 

The bees have been bringing in willow pollen and will start foraging for birch and spruce very soon.

Keeping bees fed and warm is the #1 goal at this time.