By Bruce Kilgore | Contributing Writer
As a beekeeper, February always makes me feel like I’m sitting on go. Normally, we get a few days where our bees get out to fly. Snow-stained yellow snow and covered with dead bees is a good sign. However, we still have some of the hardest times ahead. More colonies will die between now and the end of March than in the previous months.
Why? Bees can’t read a calendar, but they do sense longer days and warming temperatures. Bees respond to stimulus and these are telling them spring is on the way. Bees also understand how long it takes to make a bee. It takes twenty-one days from egg to fully emerged adult, then another twenty-one days for that bee to be ready to forage. Forty-two days total. The bees also know they will need thousands of workers to take advantage of the coming nectar and pollen flows. What else do they know? It takes a lot of bees to make one bee. Studies have found a single bee larva is visited up to 1,300 times before the cell is capped. Plus, they know the colony is at its smallest this time of year.
In our area, dandelion bloom is the kick-off to the bee year. Our bees will have been preparing since roughly the first of February; sooner, if we have a warm-up. This is where danger of losses comes in. Daily temperatures are rising, but nights are still very cold. Bees can only successfully raise the brood they can keep warm. In a loose cluster, one bee covers three cells. To generate the heat needed, workers flex their wing muscles. This requires them to consume more honey stores for fuel. This is on top of all the food being produced and delivered to the new brood. Unfortunately, as temperatures fall, the cluster tightens and brood on the outside is lost. It gets worse. It has been discovered, to some extent, a bee’s biological age is determined by how much it uses its wing muscles. So, the more it generates heat, the faster it ages. The colony will keep trying until it is successful or dies. The good news is your bees have the advantage of you! You can read a calendar and a thermometer. You watch weather forecasts. You can provide what bees need.
You are going to need to complete an assessment of the state of your hive. Not an inspection!
On a nice day, you can open the top and look in, or tilt the box up from the bottom. How large is the cluster, and can you see food stores? Remember, you are not here to pull frames out. Quickly close them back up. If you saw four plus frames of bees and honey, and a warm weather trend is coming, you are probably good. If the forecast is for cold weather, be prepared to feed your hive dry sugar or fondant. Spring pollen patties are very tricky this time of year. If your bees have had several flying days to cleanse, then yes, feed pollen. If not, do not feed; wait. If you saw four or less frames of bees, be prepared to feed, regardless of forecasted temperatures. You still need to consider flying days to add pollen patties. With these small cluster hives, check your insulation and wrapping. Do you need to add more? Are there air leaks? Can the hive be moved to a sunnier location?
February is a good month to work on your equipment and fine-tune your plans. You can also catch up on reading bee journals and binge on YouTube videos.
The next meeting for Northern Adirondack Beekeepers Association (NABA) will be Saturday, February, 14th, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Clinton Country, 6064 Rte. 22, Plattsburgh,10:00am – 12:00pm. We will be examining dead out hives to determine why they died. Very useful for planning the next season.
Regular meetings continue the 2nd Saturday of each month. Serving Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties. If you would like to be added to our growing email list, please contact Bruce. See information below.
Bruce Kilgore is a Cornell Certified Master Beekeeper with over fifteen years’ experience, President of Northern Adirondack Beekeepers Association (NABA), and a member of Eastern Apiculture Society (EAS) and Vermont Beekeepers Association (VBA). He lives in Saranac, New York. You may reach him at 518-578-2557 or email bkilgore7064@icloud.com
