Spring Is Here...maybe

Exciting news! all 4 hives survived the blah Vancouver winter. several inches of snow for a day or 2, and temperatures dipping to a mild -2 or so. March has been  rainy and there have been very few times when i could get into the hives and check out what is going on.This winter I treated the hives with Oxcalic acid vapor the same way as last years treatment. You can read all about it here- Things I did this winter while waiting for the bees – Part 2  There was a small amount of varroa on the drop boards, perhaps meaning that the earlier Formic Treatment  in the fall had worked.  This year the hives at home and the hives at Still Creek Community Garden got moisture quilts and country quilt wraps, as they had proved themselves last winter in the post-Making A Winter Quilt For The Bees 

March 10th, pollen patties were placed in the hives as the colonies seemed to be building and activity in all the hives was quite busy. [caption id="attachment_885" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Busy Bees[/caption]

A week later when i went to check the patties they was 1/2 of each of the 1 pound patties left and in the blue hive (at home) the bees were busy making burr comb on the top of the frames. I had left the eke on the top to make room for the patties but they probably didn't need the extra space.

Next post: Building a 4 Compartment Queen Mating Box