Winter is ending

After weeks of cold weather, the end of winter is in sight. Bee spring is definitely here. The ladies are out gathering pollen, but I know not from where. Another local keeper has suggested: camellias, willow and maple, but the blossoming is "understated." Check out the January 30 2011 photos and you'll see how laden with pollen they are.

Winter for me, Spring for the Bees

January 8, 2011
The winter has been very, very cold so far with temperatures in the twenties and even teens at times. There have been very few of those glorious warm days that are cold at night but bright and nearly 70 for two or three days or more. Generally, in the north Florida we have 10 or so hard freeze nights all winter. We surely have surpassed that mark - and we're not even mid-winter, yet. The long nights with the sun setting by 6p.m. and temperatures dropping quickly for 10-12 hours below freezing are hard on all outdoor life.
We left for two weeks during the second week of December. I topped drilled the hive and left two quart mason jars with sugar water. One on the top and one on the front boardman feeder. I've been using the smallest entrance excluder cut to accomodate the feeder. The mix was 4# sugar to 4 cups water. The two feeders carried the hive through nearly a month.
I weighed today and the north hive . . .the remaining hive came in at 39 lbs. That included an empty oil tray and the weight of two empty mason jar feeders.
We've had tremendous rains intermixed with the cold. When I checked the boardman feeder there was a puddle of rainwater with a couple o' drowned bees.
The sustained cold has prevented me from opening the hive, but per the local experts: 14 days after December 21 is Bee Spring. In other words, January 4th -- last Tuesday.
When I checked the hive today (not inspected) I was pleased to see pollen be gathered despite a high of only 60. I've been moving the hive slowly to full sun with no overhanging branches. A few more yards and I'll be here.
I listened for the pipping of new queens and was surprised to hear several different types of sounds:

• Normal whirring of wings, especially near the top, adjacent to the feeder and along the sides
• Buzzing as might be heard nearer the entrance, but this was in the back
• Low on the back right side were clear tapping sounding that repeated, not rhythmically, but consistently
• Pipping, almost chirping like a little chick. It occurred a couple of times near the bottom backside of the box.

I'll check with the stethoscope again tomorrow. I tried listening again after the weigh-in, but the box was jostled when it resettled and I believe it disturbed the normal interior soundscape.