Well, this winter was a tough one, as I reported earlier in the year.  Of 5 colonies going into winter, I have 2 left for 60% loss (Running fewer hives these days, because of work-related travel.  Waiting for the next chapter of my life to begin to ramp back up).  Distressing, because I took better care of them this past year than in previous years – flash formic and OAV treatments, syrup and pollen in the fall.  The OA vaporizer was a new ‘toy’ so it was fun to use.  They were all three deeps with plenty of stores, so the patties and syrup were just a precaution.  Two were gone in December and one was gone in January.  Haven’t done autopsies on the casualties yet, since there’s still more than a foot of snow on the ground, but will in a few weeks.  At least two of them chimneyed up the boxes, leaving plenty of stores to either side.  The two survivors managed to spread out at the top of the upper deep, and I’ve been feeding them dry sugar since January.  Probably still a month away from the earliest blooms (last year was the earliest I’ve seen on St. Patrick’s Day).

Normally, I’d just blame myself, but I focused on treating them for mites this past year.  I really think the long dearth we have these days between last bloom and true winter (close to three months) puts a strain on the colony, keeping them active with nothing coming in.  And, we had a serious drought, most of the summer and fall, and a particularly hard start to winter, hitting -8F/-22C in mid-December with a long cold snap.  Wondering if the latter contributed to the chimneying (I don’t wrap my hives).

Things I am considering changing for this season.

Cut back to two deeps.  I’ve run three since I started in 1996 thinking it gave the bees plenty of room for stores and brood, and allowed me to avoid using queen excluders.  But, it seems most of the stores don’t get used, and the older I get, the more of a pain (literally and figuratively) it is to sort through three deeps to do maintenance.  Guess I’ll just have to get used to using excluders.

Monitor mites better.  I’ve relied on mite drops as my monitoring method (screened bottom boards over solid bottom boards with trays), and it’s easy to qualitatively see low, medium and high loads, but I can’t really quantify other than per sq in, or sq ft.  So, I think it’s time to do alcohol washes, at least to calibrate what I see on the boards with the ‘gold standard.’

Incorporate Randy’s OA in glycerin treatment method into my regimen.  

Wrap my hives.  Would appreciate thoughts on that one.  Always thought it really didn’t add much, other than possibly serve as a wind barrier.

Cut holes in the corners of my plastic foundation frames.  I asked about this earlier in the year and Lauri provided some great info on what she has done.  I would like to know if beekeepers in northern climates see that their bees chew holes through comb on wax foundation in order to access stores on the other side.  Since I’ve used plastic foundation for almost 20 years, I can’t remember, if I ever saw evidence of this in my early wax-foundation hives.  But, since I do see chimneying fairly regularly (at least one or two hives a season), I’m wondering if the plastic foundation forces them to go around the frames, which in a very cold winter (like the cold snap we had this past December) is just not doable, so the go in the only direction they can – up.  Don’t want to go through the hassle of cutting through boxes of wax-covered plastic foundation with a hole saw to no good end, but, if it will help the bees move laterally and access stores, then it would be worth the effort.

Sorry for the long post, but Pondering The Universe, this President’s Day morning.  Hit 54F/12C yesterday, bees were flying, and most of the snow and ice slid off of the roof, so can spring be far away?

Bill
Claremont, NH US

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