Cleansing flights
Cleansing flights
The temperatures were above 50 today this second day of winter and it was nice to see all 10 hives and the 3 story nuc active with cleansing flights. Its still a loooong time till spring but it was nice to see bees flying again even for a day before it turns cold again.
I agree with Ski!
If this were summer, I would find the following frightening--
But if you figure this represents the dead of approximately 11 days for 5 hives, the number of dead bees shown represent 10-15 bees/day/hive. Given the cold temperatures, dying bees could not fly away or crawl away, and corpse carriers could not carry all of the dead and dying away.
All hives are still alive, but I am keeping an eye on them for future feeding and/or replacement in the spring.
If this were summer, I would find the following frightening--
But if you figure this represents the dead of approximately 11 days for 5 hives, the number of dead bees shown represent 10-15 bees/day/hive. Given the cold temperatures, dying bees could not fly away or crawl away, and corpse carriers could not carry all of the dead and dying away.
All hives are still alive, but I am keeping an eye on them for future feeding and/or replacement in the spring.