Hello All,
There was a nice article in todays' Allentown (PA) Morning Call newspaper.
 It talked about the value of bees as pollinators and featured a young
beekeeper from southeastern Pennsylvania, Andrew Dubas, who is also a member
of BEE-L.  The article mentions how pollination, not fertilizer, may be the
answer to failing crops. The article can bed found at:

http://www.mcall.com/html/news/regional/38068.htm

Good job Andrew and good luck with your bee business.

Another topic:

April has been cool and unsettled in eastern Pennsylvania.  It has been
difficult getting days when you can open hives for a good inspection.  I
have checked a number in the past few weeks.  They were all building up,
including a 4 frame nuc that I wintered by itself.  I came across one colony
last week that was preparing to swarm.  It is a bit early for swarms around
here.  The dandelion is not even blooming yet.  This particular hive was
ready to go.  Queens were hatching on the frame  I was holding and others
were piping from their cells.   I took some of the frames with queen cells
and made nucs and placed them above an established colony using a double
screen.   As I said, the weather has not be good.  My question is how long
can (or will) these virgin queens stay in the hive before taking a mating
flight. With the weather the way it is if they leave they may not return.  I
am not sure they will find enough drones for a good mating either.

One other thing I have noticed is most hives came through winter with an
excess of honey.  I have been removing frames and replacing them in order to
give the queens more room.  Weather has definitely been strange the past few
years.

Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, PA  USA