As we move out of a snowy February and into March, remember to keep the snow off the entrances, and on those occasional warm days check to make sure the bees have enough honey or sugar bricks available. March and April are when bee colonies tend to starve in Maryland. This is due to the ramp-up of brood rearing for the spring honey flow, and meanwhile, if they get a day warm enough to fly, there will be very limited blooms for them to forage. Keep in mind a warm day followed by a cold snap can leave the cluster stranded away from their honey, a sugar brick over overtop of the cluster will suffice for now. Do not break apart or disturb the cluster. On a 50+ degree day, you could take outside honey frames and move them next to the cluster. Happy beekeeping and don’t hesitate with questions - Bryan |
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Bryan is checking for humming to see if this colony made it through the current cold snap. |
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What should you be doing now? - check hive food stores and add sugar brick if needed (recipe below)
- clean up any dead outs (for help on figuring out why did they die watch this video)
- clear entrances of the hives if they've gotten blocked
- move hives around within or to another apiary if needed
- plan any plantings you want to do for the year
- inventory equipment, repair or cull old equipment, build and paint new equipment
- consider putting together a swarm capture kit and or building a "Russian scion" / swarm magnet to recapture swarms from your apiary this spring
- read some bee books or subscriptions, renew your bee club memberships and attend some bee meetings- everyone is on Zoom now
- order your bees for spring! We are taking limited queen and nuc pre-orders on our website
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Sugar brick recipe : - 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
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Mix ingredients thoroughly and press into a wax paper-lined pie pan or another shallow container. Once the brick has hardened, place it directly on top of the uppermost frames and then place feeder shim, followed by the (quilt board if using and then) outer lid on top. Or place brick over top of the hole on the inner cover, and then place the (quilt board if using and then) outer cover on top. |
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What are we up to: - inventorying equipment, repairing and culling old equipment, building and painting new equipment for the coming year (we will have some extra equipment for sale too)
- attending a few conferences, workshops, and a whole lot of bee club meetings (we highly encourage you to try out more than one bee club!) via ZOOM
- once a month check on the bees for food stores and dead outs
- trying a few new hive related crafts like honey lollipops
- reading books about queen rearing and native trees for bees
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Here are few native trees and shrubs that support our honey bees during the critical summer dearth months. Please consider adding these: |
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Trees: - Basswood (Tilia americana)
- Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
- Devil’s walking stick (Aralia spinosa)
- Smooth sumac (Rhus glabra)
- Winged sumac (Rhus copallinum)
- Staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina)
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Shrubs: - Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia)
- Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus)
- Shrubby St. John’s Wort (Hypericum prolificum)
- New Jersey Tea (Ceoanthus americanus)
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fun fact: two mature linden trees have enough flowers to equal an acre of sweet clover in nectar production. |
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New items in the store: Coming soon to the store: - Assembled supers and frames
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Upcoming bee club meetings: |
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