I live outside SF and have been bee keeping for about 9 months after my
neighbor's swarmed.  My kids loved it and I've enjoyed the learning process.
However, as I was doing my monthly check this  month, I noticed that all of
my bees were "frozen" dead.  Lost my whole hive.   We have 5
apple/pear/cherry trees that I was so looking forward to the bees collecting
all of that pollen this spring.  I have moved my boxes to a new location
that gets more sun exposure during the winter (never gets  too cold here but
the proof is in the pudding).

                A lot of the commercial/local bee producers here don't offer
new  Queens until april.  Does anybody recommend getting a new queen from
elsewhere now (in Jan/Feb)?  I am afraid that I may get a Queen too late for
all of my pollen producing trees!   I've done some reading online but no
sites give you rec's on when to requeen other than in "summer sometime"  and
given our mild winters here, can I do it earlier.  I missed my local Mt
Diablo Beekeepers Assoc meeting last night due to kids being sick.  Thanks
in advance.  marc


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