[Gypsi]

Nothing is in bloom here, fall lasted forever, I left a lot of honey on the hives, didn't do a fall harvest (although I saw 10 solid frames in the TOP super in November) They eat a lot when they aren't clustered, so I left them their honey. But I didn't get mite treatments done. There was still brood in November.

I've seen a few bees out since our very hard freeze looking for pollen and decided to rush a treatment in before I put out pollen substitute in hopes that there isn't brood yet. Because I had grandkids here I really could not inspect first, also if we get another cold snap, I don't want to break their propolis seals.

I also didn't want to burn bees with the OAV wand, so I made a new dispenser out of a primer can, put the pan of my Varrox in thru a cut in the side wall, and used a pen case (metal) near the top on the other side to send the smoke into a hole I drilled in the back of the bottom box, near the bottom. It was a good system. Photo

I flipped my sticky boards first. Because I use screened bottom boards I can see how many mites drop. I'll check 24 hour drop probably about 3 pm tomorrow. Hit it with enough oxalic acid I hope. I'll put out pollen substitute later today.

How is your winter beekeeping going?

 

[Gypsi]

I see a few bees here and there, it's too cool yet this morning to see if they hit the pollen sub. Unless I see great traffic at the sub feeder before the weekend I think I am going to pull the top box and make sure I have queens.
Mite drop after OAV, 3 boxes on each, 10 on the Beeweaver hive, 6 on the swarm hive. And that is on the whole sticky board, not per square inch. EIther there aren't very many bees or there aren't very many mites. I need to know which and make sure I'm not queenless. Good pollen sub traffic would answer that without opening the hive.
There aren't many bees in my area, not enough forage, and when I quit doing removals my mite issues went way down, because I wasn't bringing home dirty bees

 

[Gypsi]

That's pretty chilly. I have a young beekeeper coming out to help me this weekend, I need to have a peek in the hives, it was November last time I looked and still lots of brood. Need to be sure I'm not queenless, and we have a warm stretch running

 

[Gypsi]

mine aren't going for the pollen sub. I think they found some real pollen somewhere, it's about holly bush time soon down here, or oak, maple, elm.

 

[Gypsi]

apparently it took just the right weather, I walked into a cloud of bees by the pollen sub feeder yesterday. The queens are laying I guess. Not sure if I want to treat with OAV again just now.

 

[Gypsi]

My elm tree is budding out, about to be done with pollen substitute, nice afternoon I'm seeing bees at the pond and in the garden snooping around

 

[Gypsi]

In the summer when it's 110 here I'll bet it's not 110 there. Nice snow, makes the yard look all neat and clean

 

[Gypsi]

cold rain but we need the rain here, and it's about 52 right now, will hit 30 tonight so a light freeze, wagons of delicate plants get pulled in garage

 

[Gypsi]

When I was younger and more cynical, I would make jokes about taking a thermos of coffee and sitting in my car near an overpass watching the boneheads try to get up the hill. Now I just bring in more firewood and stay home lest I be one of the boneheads. In a 2 wheel drive pickup with the ice we had on Wednesday there was no way I was going out of the driveway. I finally went to the post office thursday afternoon. Truck did ok, except it did take 5 tries to get it up the driveway afterward. Had to rev it up on the nice dry street and coast over the ice. Getting out of the post office to the truck was a very slow process, they had not salted their sidewalks. I used sand and epsom salts on mine.

 

[Gypsi]

I had to mail 1099s, they were 2 days late as it was, because the weather hit while I was finishing them up. Or I would not have gone to the post office. Mail wasn't being delivered so I couldn't hand them off. I reckon half the 1099s in north Texas were late

 

[Gypsi]

and im sure the irs will try and hit you with a late fee or fine..they are great for that..lol

hope not