Bee Chronicles Dec. 2016

The end of an interesting year.

I have never seen the grass brown, here in the mountains. That goes back to the 1980’s.

The first or last bloom of the year is Witchhazel. It bloom in late December or early January. A feathery yellow flower. The bees will get a little pollen off it. This year (2016) it bloomed the first of November. I have seen it on 22 November before.

I have seen snow for Thanksiving and shorts and T shirts for Thanksgiving. Even had vine ripened local tomatoes one Christmas.

Tonight the wind is gusting to 40 miles an hour. The lights are flickering and I don’t know if this letter will get done before the lights go out or not.

The drought which started in July is starving the bees. Of course most people are feeding syrup to the bees. If you haven’t your bees will starve the end of January. So many beekeepers are using sugar syrup it is getting harder and harder to get the reject sugar at the Savannah sugar plant. And we will need that sugar in March when real spring hits the mountains. I think I will stock pile. If I don’t need it some beekeeper will.

Tomorrow, it should have been yesterday, I will reduce all the entrances against wind and mice. I will also close all the screened bottom boards. I think the bees live higher up in the hive with an open bottom. They are trying to get away from the wind and light. Closing the bottom and reducing the entrance will keep the breeze down helping the cluster stay warm with less energy (honey) consumption.

I hope everyone has treated for varroa mites. Fall is the highest mite population. You might think you only have a few but they are tricky. If your bees make it through the winter treat for mites early.

I have changed management plans and am treating aggressively for tracheal mites. I use grease patties. Make a ¼” thick hamburger out of crysco and sugar (powdered or granulated). The bees will eat it and get greasy confusing the tracheal mites trying to find a host bee. You can do this in the winter or summer, with or without brood.

Another winter activity is cleaning all the “boxes” without bees in them (brood or supers). Especially, clean the rabbets. That is the shelf notch where the ears of the frames rest. Get most of the propolis out of that area. Hive beetles love getting in there where the bees can’t grab them and take them to jail. It also makes frame management easier next year. The frames won’t get glued down quite as tight.

If you want to get away by yourself for a few hours, head to the wood shed. Make or clean up frames. Remove old foundation. Don’t put in new wax foundation. The mice love to eat it. Also handling cold wax foundation can break it. Fix up the frames and put the wax foundation in just before you need it next spring.

If you have a warm area you can scrape and paint the outside of all you boxes. White is pretty but unnecessary. Any light colored paint that will reflect sunlight (to keep inside cool) is okay. You can put bright colored geometric patterns on your boxes to help the bees recognize which one is theirs.

Order your new bees and early replacement queens now! Bee producers book up early.