Dad and I went into the hives yesterday for the first inspection of the year. Up until now, there has been activity in and out of each hive. The 10-frame had made it through it's second winter and was started from a split. The 8-frame was the swarm I captured last fall.
There were some bees in each hive, but I didn't see any brood, eggs, or queens. Some of the wax was torn, so I suspect some robbing had been going on. There was still capped and uncapped honey and pollen in each hive. The weather has been cold then warm then cold then warm, so maybe this has thrown the bees off. I reversed the boxes because the top box had the most bees in it, and put them back together. I put a robbing screen on the front of each hive. I plan to go back into the hives next Friday to see if they're better or worse. They may both be deadouts full of robbers. They may be ok. Hopefully next week I can make a determination.
Greg, Suggest your feed sugar patties with pollen or pollen substitute. Might add some Honey Bee Healthy too. Patties tend to stimulate egg laying. Put patties on top of brood frames.
ReplyDeleteWould like to see a few pictures of the brood pattern and honey stores.
Jim Gentry