Welcome back to the beehive. In this column, I want to update you folks on the status of our bees and discuss the reasons why some the hives had died.
Brenda and I just made a trip to Kansas to check on our bees. It happened to be 75 degrees that day. I have to say it was nice to see our bees again. It may sound kind of strange, but we spend a lot of time with our bees, they kind of become part of the family.
As we made our way through the first bee yard, it became obvious that we had suffered some losses. We did a quick hive inspection on each hive. First, we were checking to see if the hive was alive, and if it was, we fed the bees some granulated sugar and a protein patty. If the bees had consumed all of their honey stores, then they would eat the sugar, to tide them over until the bloom starts. Speaking of the bloom, as we were checking the hives, we were seeing some bees that were returning to the hive, with their pollen sacks full. That means that the bees had found some trees that had started to bud and bloom. It turns out, that Kansas has been unusually warm this spring, and the peach trees were also about ready to bud out. I digress, back to the hive inspections. We lost about 30 percent of our hives in the first bee yard.
Brenda and I drove to our second bee yard a few miles away, thinking that we may have a small catastrophe on our hands. But we were very pleased, when we found that 85 percent of these bees had survived. We feel fairly certain that the hives we found alive will make it through to spring now.
So, you may be wondering why did we suffer such losses, even with what seems to be an early spring. My answer, the Varroa Mites. Mites originated in Eastern Asia and spread to North American in the 1980's. Varroa mites attach themselves to the bees and then reproduce in the hives, as they lay eggs in the cells the bees use to make new bees. The mites suck blood out of the bees and the brood. Mites are believed to be part of the cause of the colony collapse disorder. Brenda and I treat our bees for mites, but timing is everything, and sometimes we in the beekeeping community, don't have all the answers. I have been talking to my beekeeper buddies, it turns out if your bees were strong last year, they might be vulnerable to mite infestations this year. I've learned that there is a cycle. This cycle can be broken, but the timing has to be spot on. The kicker is that no one is sure what time is the right time. And so it goes, once again, I have to say, we as beekeepers are not in charge. We will let you know when the bees are headed back up north.
ADVERTISEMENT
As always, thanks for your interest.
