Say Hello to My Little Friend

One of my bees came over to say hi to me this afternoon!

She perched right on my wrist for a minute or two and then flew off. One of her sisters was on my shoulder at the same time. Good thing I didn't get pooped on! Just call me the bee whisperer...

The sun was right on hive #3 and they were taking full advantage of the opportunity. Lots of potty breaks and clean-up going on. 

Mid-Winter Check

Happy New Year! So far, it hasn't been too bad of a winter for the bees. We had a cold snap last month with lows in the single digits, but the bees are hanging in there.

I was out back with my stethoscope the other day and all three hives were buzzing. Yay! I've been checking the hive weights with a luggage scale but this time of year it doesn't change as fast as the early spring. When the weights start dropping down, it's not their New Years resolution. That's brood rearing!

There was a break in the weather yesterday with temps in the high 40s and lots of wind but the sun was also out. I saw a few bees flying out of every hive. The "nuc" was the biggest hive going into the winter and I think it has the most dead bees on the bottom board. I saw some workers trying to clean them out yesterday.