Beekeeping, Gardening and Quilting in Eastern Wake County, North Carolina









Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Cold Wind and Feeding Bees

















Missed a good opportunity this past weekend to check my hives.  Hive #6 and #4 are busting at the seams with bees in and out but Nuc #3, Nuc #1 and the Swarm Hive have bees but not nearly as much activity. 
The hives are heavy - I can't lift them up so that's a good sign too. So today when I got home (about 6:00 by the time I got everything together), I put feeders on the front of Nuc #3, Nuc #1 and the Swarm Hive.  I was gonna wait and put baggies on the inside of the hives but the weather is supposed to be really cold the next couple of nights and chilly daytime temps.  Saturday is supposed to be warm but a chance of rain.  You never know what the weather will really be but decided after listening to some of the folks at the bee meeting last night I better get with the program.  Lots of hives lost to starvation. 
March is a terrible month for bees - you would think with everything starting to bud there would be plenty of food but that's not the case.  A warm spell and then cold with colder nights - not good weather for those girls. 





















I mix half and half - 1 cup sugar to 1 cup hot or boiling water to dissolve the sugar.  The bees love this and hopefully will keep my hives from starving.
I had to duct tape two of the feeders and after putting the feeders on rearranged the openings.  The wind is really whipping - it's supposed to be cold tonight.