Bee Chronicles Jan 2022

19 December Yesterday it was 62, today it is 44 and going down. We have not had a freezing night in the past week. 20 Dec. it froze last night. Supposed to be 50^o for a high today.

The bees are emptying the pollen feeder in 2 days. I need to keep the pollen feeder full.

I need to put syrup on the feeders again. I am putting about a gallon at a time and only once a week if it is warm.

I see pussy willow catkins forming everything from brown shell to 1” gray fuzzy.

I see the Sweet Bush buds starting to form. Not the size of a wooden match head yet. I think this is a little early for Sweet Bush to be thinking about starting. It should be a late February to mid March bloom. Just before Eastern Red Bud.

I have had 2 Fall die off and 2 winter die off. When I feed syrup the next time I will look at 1 hive that is small numbers, 2 hives that just look ragged (I don’t expect them to make it).

There are different causes for Summer, Fall, and Winter die off. I don’t know the difference and really don’t care. I know I need to replace them. It can be nosema apis, nosema cerena, viruses from varroa mites, hornet predators, or starvation. Sometimes if the colony comes out of the winter very small, I just replace the queen. She was defective or the colony would not have diminished so much.

Weather Watch! We are in a very unusual weather pattern right now. Queens are brooding if being fed supplementally. This is not necessarily a problem as long as the cluster is large enough to cover the larvae area at night. It does create a situation of the hive needing more stored food, honey and pollen. The winter stores of food will be depleted faster feeding the brood. Hence, you need to not skip on supplemental food. Why is it every changing situation requires us to think past what we see and prepare for the next potential problem?

The violence of the northern jet stream and the depth of the south end of the curve (see the weather map preceding this last tornado disaster) will occur again in January, February, and around Easter. It happens every year with different degrees of intensity. Some times when it is cold, they call it the “Chicago Zephyr”. No matter what, it is normal. The bees can withstand it, but will consume extra food for a week.

If the warm spells are prolonged, the early flower buds will start to swell and may get frosted. This will delay the arrival of flowers this spring forcing us to feed longer than normal while we wait for the “second” wave of spring blooms. If you don’t feed your bees will probably starve the end of February or in March. This is unnecessary. Inspect your hives when the weather is appropriate and adjust your beekeeping work accordingly.

Don’t you find all the variations interesting? Maybe, this is why beekeepers become weird?