Feeding Time
February 17th, and another of a string of nice days. Temperatures today reached the upper 40's. We ordered some pollen patties and today seemed like a good day to apply them.
Bees were flying at both hives when we went out to check on them. Popping the lids, we found quite a few bees above the inner cover, particularly on hive #1, and many more bees on top of the frames in the top box. I minimized the time the bees were exposed to the air and gently placed the patties on top of the frames. I had to adjust my first placement, since it was directly in the middle so when I put the inner cover on, the oval slot was completely blocked.
Bees looked healthy. No sign of nosema and the number of mites on each pull-out tray was very minimal. In fact, I had trouble seeing any at all. Crumbs from wax cappings indicated bees have been feeding on honey.
It will be interesting to see how quickly they consume the patties. I'll try to check in about 2 weeks.
To see a short video of today's work, watch Adding Pollen .
Bees were flying at both hives when we went out to check on them. Popping the lids, we found quite a few bees above the inner cover, particularly on hive #1, and many more bees on top of the frames in the top box. I minimized the time the bees were exposed to the air and gently placed the patties on top of the frames. I had to adjust my first placement, since it was directly in the middle so when I put the inner cover on, the oval slot was completely blocked.
It will be interesting to see how quickly they consume the patties. I'll try to check in about 2 weeks.
To see a short video of today's work, watch Adding Pollen .
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