Bob Harrison wrote:

"Also after years with Russian/Russian hives ( two yards at present and have
had hundreds at one time  but getting some Russian/Russian queens coming
soon this spring ) you have a hard time telling spring dwindling as the
Russians keep such small winter clusters"

Bob,

In our area it is the Italian bees that winter with a small cluster (if they winter at all). The climate where you are is probably similar to our climate here in the mountains of NC and GA.. Where we have a good fall pollen flow my Russian bees winter with clusters up to 10 plus frames. In fact, while making splits last week, I found one colony with 14 frames of brood. They may have had 2 queens but I did not find a second one. You may have a fall nutrition problem for in areas where there is adequate goldenrod and aster my winter clusters are larger than where there is a scarcity of fall pollen. I believe that if you Russian clusters are large in the fall then they will be large in the spring.

I am now feverishly working between showers to make splits, prevent swarming, raise queens and prepare the colonies for our first surplus honey flow on May,1. I estimate that I am currently removing an average of about 2 frames of brood from colonies in order to give room for the queen to continue to lay between now and May 1 when the tulip poplars bloom.

Carl Webb

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