Leave them bee!
January 11, 2019

Jeff and I made 2:1 sugar syrup because we worried that a big storm is coming and we worried that these first year hives might not have enough honey to get them through the winter. So with 3 gallons of sugar water, we headed to the Paramount nursery where we have two hives.

When we approached the Cecilio hive, we were surprised to see so many bees on the top and on the ground. And then as soon as I got close, the bees flew to my suit as if to welcome me! They were very calm but just hanging out on my suit and arms. It is very curious because that has not happened before.

We wondered if they were on top of the hive to get some water from condensation from last night or to warm themselves. It was 62 degrees which is fairly chilly so we knew we had to get in and get out of the hive. We were surprised to see quite a few bees on five frames so we quickly added the sugar water to the feeder and put a pollen patty on top and closed it back up.

We then went to Jeff’s hive and we saw so many bees coming and going and many bees were bringing in white pollen. Jeff has a hive that is two, ten frame deep boxes so we opened it and Jeff quickly inspected and felt confident that he could leave the second box on. Because his inspection board showed a lot of dead mites as well as big clumps of yellow pollen, he decided not to put on a pollen patty. He quickly added a gallon of two:one sugar water and closed it back up. We feel so confident now that these two hives will probably make it through the winter.

Off to Altadena!
This hive is just one box but with 4 of the 6 frames with bees. This is not unusual for winter. Left a pollen patty and a gallon of 2:1 sugar water. We’ll “leave them bee” as Bill says! We’re feeling very encouraged this year!