by David Hocutt

Sitting here today at my computer it is 24 oF outside with a small amount of snow on the ground. I am sure that today my bees are in cluster again.

Hard to believe how warm it was a couple of weeks ago.  On February 20th, after a few warmish days it was 72 oF, so I decided to investigate a couple of hives and see what I could find going on within the frames.  Standing in front of the hives I observed at the entrance a frenzy of activity.

First, I thought it to be either orientation or cleansing flights. But to my surprise, I was clearly watching foraging behavior. There were many bees coming and going making B-lines to their destinations and back.  Roughly half of them were carrying loads of pollen and the other half must have been carrying either water or nectar.

As I lifted off the outer and inner covers and the candy board, it was clear to me that the bees had indeed broken cluster. They were spread out on eight frames as opposed to being tightly compacted on just a few.  Extremely strange behavior for February.  I removed a couple of frames from the center of the hive and was surprised by what I was finding.

On February 20th I had in my hands a frame that contained eggs, open brood, and sealed brood, much more than I was expecting. The bees were building a fresh pollen band around the area with the most eggs. They were conveniently locating some fresh protein around an area they knew they were going to need it to feed freshly hatched brood. Smart bees!  The population is going to go up very quickly now.

There were no drone cells discovered yet, as I wiped the sweat off my brow, as I was half expecting to see some along with what else I was finding.

But what I could not hardly fathom for February, I saw small areas with fresh nectar. Hmmm, maybe the bees know more about the weather than we do. Where is this coming from??  I scoped out the canopy of trees I was standing in and sure enough, I saw near the tops of some of the red maples some areas not just with early buds, but in full bloom.  Amazing! If it is out there, the bees will find it.

As I continued to examine the colony, trying to be extremely fast (just because it was February), I noticed something else.  If I looked very closely at the tops of some of the frames, I noticed tiny areas of fresh, white wax.  You know what that means?  Get the supers out, check them for any damage, and make sure they get some fresh air around them. Soon it will be time to put them on.  Be ready. The bees are!

There is determination inside the hive.

David Hocutt