Feeding Bees in Winter: How (& why) to Make Sugar Blocks
Late winter is a challenging time for hive survival. The colony’s stores may be running low even in a good year. With the unusually warm December, they are much more likely to be running low on honey as the warm temps kept the bees unseasonably active.
Beekeepers: Please do a tilt-test and check the weight of your hives SOON even if you left plentiful honey in the fall. This post is about my favorite method of emergency/back-up feeding when —despite your excellent fall care and careful winter prep— the bees don’t have enough honey to survive the winter.
Read MoreBees Without Winter (yet…)
My buddy at the feed store said the other day, ‘Your bees must be enjoying this warm December.’ We haven’t had any winter to mention and it’s nearly Christmas. Growing up in Alabama, that was perfectly normal. Here at 3000′ in the mountains of North Carolina it is very unusual…
Read MoreFebruary In the Bee Yard
Around the mountains the thin branches of willows and maples are beginning to flush yellow and pink. Even with the winter weather, beekeepers see those changing colors and know in just a few weeks honey bees will start getting ready for spring.
All during winter, or anytime temps are much below fifty degrees, honey bees gather to form a cluster inside their hive. Using stored honey as fuel
Read MoreBee Bee Tree: Adding this to planting wish list
With a name like Bee Bee Tree, you know it is going to be of interest around here! Like the Chinese Golden Raintree, the Bee Bee Tree fills a late summer niche when there are few other nectar sources for bees and pollinators. For those in the WNC mountains, this bloom chart for beekeepers is handy: http://goo.gl/aMh0a For gardeners interested in bee-friendly plants, here’s a good list : http://goo.gl/56d6s and another one with a tree list included here: http://goo.gl/VRu3f
Will be shopping for a Bee Bee Tree as soon as I have a place to plant one….maybe before if that takes a long while. May have rows of buckets of plants ready for the future homestead long before I have a homestead! Haha. What are some things on your planting wish list? (Comment link is just above the picture.)
Leigh
—A Larrapin Garden…currently in search of a new home in the Blue Ridge of North Carolina. Leigh’s posts on this blog may be boom or bust depending on the season, but if you subscribe here you’ll get one weekly email—usually on Wednesdays—to let you know what’s new. You are also invited to get garden related miscellany and recipes at the brand new Facebook page or on Twitter.
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