Spring Management

erwkkkk08's picture
Submitted by erwkkkk08 on Fri, 02/08/2013 - 7:57am

Forums:

Osiyo (hello),

Hi everyone, just wanted to invite people to share things about their Spring Management tactics and to discuss any problems or concerns they may have about this time of year, which is the busiest of the season. We have had a so-so winter, not real cold, not real warm, this has problems all on it's own. Please feel free to generate questions and you can direct them to the officers or anyone else, if you want to ask one of the officers questions but don't want others to be "all up in your bizness", just send an e-mail and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We as humans tend to benefit from each other when we share problems. Good luck in all you do.

Wado (thank you), Eric Wilkerson

Stinger's picture

Stinger

Fri, 02/08/2013 - 9:31am

You Bee the Man!

Our bees are drinking sugar water rapidly (about qt. / 5 days). We have lg. and med. brood on #1 and #4 (2 hives total). If my thinking is correct, adding a honey super now would do nothing except possibly create honey made from sugar water. I am not real good at identify nector flows, so my question is;

  • What and where should we look for indications of  the next substantial nector flow?
  • When does it normally start?

Jacksonville Beekeepers Association has great Bee Plant Web Pages here.

 

 

auxcom's picture

auxcom

Fri, 02/08/2013 - 1:24pm

I think the bees will tell you when they are getting nectar....they will just stop taking your sugar water.....lol

Just remember that date

 

erwkkkk08's picture

erwkkkk08

Sun, 02/10/2013 - 9:37pm

Well, this has been a wierd year so far, the blackberries are blooming but that's hit- or -miss, all citrus is coming on strong too,  I've noticed many swamp berries (choke cherries) blooming. But don't forget most of us live in residential areas and there are plenty of ornamentals like ligustrum and wisteria (both loved by bees), are coming into bloom. Here's a generalized list of plants coming into bloom now through April, huckleberry, laurel, clover, red bay, dogwood, black gum, mimosa, milkweed, saw palmetto, gallberry and our old pal spanish needle. I'm sure there are more, but my brain is smoking trying to remember all of them. All of these will contribute to your first harvest, having things bloom successively will ensure healthy hives and a surplus of honey, that's why spring is the "Field of Dreams" for our bees. Good luck everyone.

Do na da (later), Eric Wilkerson and Family

auxcom's picture

auxcom

Thu, 02/21/2013 - 11:36am

Hey all,

Bo came over to the house last Saturday and helped me split my first hive!!!

I made a nuc and we opened up my 3 deep (10 frame) hive.  the top was just getting started as a super...so no activity yet in there.

The middle deep had some queen cells (see pics)  so we took some of those frames and moved them into the 5 frame nuc.

I placed a board on top with an opening for a jar feeder...and have let them bee.

They are slowly working their new home...not many bees yet and no new queen yet...probably be another few weeks before one swarms.

 

original hive, queen cells