What are we doing here? Where the heck IS that queen?
Well,
This year was NOTHING like last year!
Lessons learned.......never take the girls for granted, ....you may THINK you know
what you're
doing, but wait a minute,......keep your eye on why you went into
beekeeping in the first place.
What are we doing here? Where the heck IS that queen?
That said, it was a very interesting year. One hive went through last winter ('98-'99) with flying colors, was packed with bees in the spring, and swarmed in late May 1999. The queen that the remaining bees raised was laying a very spotty pattern of eggs, and the hive remained weakened over the summer. By fall they had many varroa mites which I thought I had knocked down by treatment in late summer, but the hive appeared to be trying to fend off robbing attacks by the end of August, and by September I was removing many, many wax moth cocoons. The bees would watch with apparent interest, and when I had a space cleared, they would rush in to inspect. By the end of November there was a small cluster of bees in the top box, and by January 3, 2000 they were dead.
The other hive was weak going into last winter('98-'99) and suffered robbing attacks in the spring (by the strong hive?) got demoralized, attacked by wax moths and died out in late June 1999. I added a "nuc" of bees and the hive responded. A "nuc" is a nucleus hive, consisting of 4-6 frames full of bees, eggs, larvae, honey, pollen, and a queen. I replaced 6 frames from the bottom box of this dead hive with the new frames full of bees. The new bees cleaned the hive and set up housekeeping. They went into this winter strong, and on January 3, 2000 (a warm day) they were healthy, the hive was heavy with bees and honey, and the bees were housecleaning. Recent trips to the bee yard, putting my ear to the side of the hive, has reassured me that all is well by the steady hum from within.
So, I have replaced both hives, this past year. What a blow to my ego. But, I went into beekeeping to learn and to enjoy the bees, and so that is where I must keep my focus.
Wonder what is in store for this coming year?