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> From: Garry Libby <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Drones in February?
> Date: Thursday, February 20, 1997 3:28 AM
>
> Any ideas on why drones were flying from both of my hives yesterday?I
live in
> Boston,USA. Yesterday the temperature was 64 degrees F.One hive is
Buckfast
> the other is Italian.Both seem to be healthy.This has been my first year
> keeping bees and this goes against everything that i've read.any
suggestions
> would be appreciated.Thank You.  Garry Libby  [log in to unmask]
>
> ---------
Hi All
 
I have always been told that healthy colonies rear a lot of drones early in
preparation for swarming.  As with any species they are simply getting
ready to reproduce.
 
Here in SE Tennessee USA,  My hives are boiling with so many bees that I am
watching closely to prevent starvation in the event of more cold weather.
They have enough stores for a normal year but as everyone is observing,
they seem to think it is spring already.  I have Italians, Buckfast and
Yugos and all have four to five frames of brood in their single brood
chambers and are rearing drones in their supers.  It was in the mid sixties
last week so I was able to do a complete inspection an most of the hives.
 
Wild plums and redbud trees started blooming this week so maybe spring is
here??
 
Frank Humphrey
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