First hive inspection of the year! / 冬末春初，开箱查蜂！

After a brutal winter, bees and beekeepers are looking forward to a spring warmup. Are the bees still alive? Has the queen survived the winter? Is there sufficient food storage? These are some questions I want answered.

We had a couple of unusual warm days the past week in the northern US. The high temperature went up to 72F. I took advantage of the nice weather and inspected all my hives.

I have one colony in single nuc box and 6 colonies in single deep in my backyard. Now let's open the hives and see how the bees are doing.

This is the single nuc. Plenty of sugar and pollen patty. A couple of frames full of honey. The food storage should last till blooming of maple trees in mid-March when I will start spring feeding. The queen is alive! It is such a good feeling to see a big and fat queen in the spring!

Here is the first single deep. Lots of sugar left, but pollen patty is almost gone. No queen on this frame. Queen is spotted on this frame!

Second single deep. Lots of sugar left, but pollen patty is all gone. No queen on this frame. It is on this frame! This queen has survived the winter!

Third single deep. Sugar is mostly gone. Pollen patty is all gone. It is a very strong colony. Maybe a little too strong for early March. This queen is a great layer.

Fourth single deep. Half sugar is gone. All pollen patty is gone. This a beautiful queen! The workers are all excited to attend to the queen.

Fifth single deep. A quarter of sugar eaten. All pollen patty eaten. Great looking queen!

Sixth single deep. No sugar eaten. No pollen eaten. May be a weak colony? The queen looks just fine. The colony is strong. So this colony might be a thrifty one and uses resources efficiently.

All of my colonies made it to early March. The bees, however, are not completely out of woods yet. Low temperature is going to be in the teens in 7-10 days. Temperature will then gradually go up. After the cold snap I will remove the winter wrapping and start spring feeding.

In the meantime, each colony received two fresh pollen patties to feed to the baby bees
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【博文自荐】
生活在美国：去哪里买真正的蜂蜜？
后院养蜂：公蜂的命运，比男人的更惨
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[彩烟游士]

回复 '晓青' 的评论 :

哈哈，粉丝遍天下！很多老美和我一样喜欢种菜：）

晓青2022-03-11 13:58:38
游士的粉丝已经扩展到美国人了，赞!不知道他们喜不喜欢种菜？

[晓青]

游士的粉丝已经扩展到美国人了，赞!不知道他们喜不喜欢种菜？

[彩烟游士]

回复 '亮亮妈妈' 的评论 :

谢谢亮妈！上周最高72，这周最低12！！

亮亮妈妈2022-03-11 06:05:01
72 F was last Saturday:-) Great job, professor 游士。 终于见识到Queen bee长什么样子了。 Beautiful queens!

[亮亮妈妈]

72 F was last Saturday:-) Great job, professor 游士。 终于见识到Queen bee长什么样子了。 Beautiful queens!

[彩烟游士]

回复 '稳稳' 的评论 :

谢谢稳稳！有时候老美学生想看我怎么养蜂，就弄几个英文的视频：）

蜜蜂成虫主要吃糖或者蜜，幼虫时需要大量蛋白质（花粉）。第六个蜂箱里糖和花粉饼虽然没吃掉，但蜂王和小蜜蜂们可以吃去年她们自己存储的粮食。我给她们的是应急粮食;)

稳稳2022-03-08 22:21:04
看完了，好棒，喜欢老师的英语讲解，更方便您的老美学生们观赏了:)
小蜜蜂们是吃糖还是花粉饼呢？
第六个蜂箱里糖和花粉饼都没吃掉，那蜂王和小蜜蜂们吃什么呢？

[彩烟游士]

回复 '稳稳' 的评论 :

给稳稳端一杯酒：）

稳稳2022-03-08 21:58:30
哈哈，先坐沙发再慢慢欣赏:)

[稳稳]

看完了，好棒，喜欢老师的英语讲解，更方便您的老美学生们观赏了:)
小蜜蜂们是吃糖还是花粉饼呢？
第六个蜂箱里糖和花粉饼都没吃掉，那蜂王和小蜜蜂们吃什么呢？

[稳稳]

哈哈，先坐沙发再慢慢欣赏:)