No. 42 Fall, 1997 Page 3

Tales From The Lonesome Hive

I managed to take a peek at the LH the week of Feb. 18th as the temperatures climbed up to the low 50ƒ’s. I was not too encouraged with what I was able to see from the top. This opinion could change once the weather opens up enough to split the hive bodies apart. What I was able to see was a cluster that was not as large as I would have expected from their condition last October. The colony had about five frames of bees. The trouble with a cluster that size is that they have trouble keeping very much brood warm. Thus, these sized colonies tend to go down in strength rather than increase. They just can’t keep up with the loss of bees that occurs because of old age. My plans are to put on a pollen supplement patty next week to help provide additional protein to the cluster. I don’t want the colony to cut back on brood rearing for any reason. Sometimes they can become short of pollen (protein) within the cluster area. If that happens then they will stop brood rearing.

I also plan on putting a sticky board under the colony as soon as the weather permits some activity. I want to know what the status of the mite population is this spring. I had treated the colony with Apistan^Æ strips last September, but maybe not as early as I should have put them on to get good control of the mites. In any event I want to assess the population – probably more for my information than anything. I will treat with Apistan up to just prior to honey flow, as this treatment timing appears to be one of the best measures for control of the mites for later in the season.

This is a later update on the LH. I examined the hive yesterday, April 1st, and what I tell you is not a joke. I was worried about the size of the cluster when I put on the pollen supplement patty the end of February. I should not have been concerned, as what I apparently saw earlier was only the bees that were in the top hive body. Right now the colony has about 20,000, or more bees and growing very fast. I had bees in four 3/4 hive bodies.

Currently I am in the midst of moving the colony to another location. A new subdivision in the field behind my house makes it important to move them to the yet-to-be built garden house. So I am moving them a few feet at a time. Yesterday they came out from behind the little fenced yard where they have been located for many years. Then I will slowly move them 150 ft. in the next few weeks.

 

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^{Document author(s): Roger Hoopingarner
E-Mail: hoopinga@msue.msu.edu
URL: http://www.ent.msu.edu/bplus/page3.html}