Beemused: A Blog

Interesting research on bee foraging behavior.

We finally got a break in the weather (it has either been cold or snowy every weekend), and I was able to inspect the hives.  Susan and Emma came through the winter with flying colors - lots of bees, plentiful stores left, no signs of trouble.  Victoria, unfortunately, did not make it.  The frames were all completely depleted, and all the bees were dead on the bottom.  Pretty clearly a case of inadequate honey supply, which was frustrating because we had given her several frames of honey from the stronger hives and had feed them as much syrup as they would take.

This makes two years in a row that we’ve lost a hive, and both times it was the hive in the same location.  I think that location simply doesn’t get enough sunlight, so I am going to think about where else we could put the hive for better success.

The surviving hives are doing well and I gave each of them an artificial pollen cake to get them started.   They are looking great!