When the first 65F day of the year falls on a weekend I feel like I've hit the lottery. It means I can suit up and do a full inspection in each of my hives.  I'm always a little rusty at the beginning of the year so I like to write down the things I need to look for when I open up each hive.  Below you can see the list I made for myself for my first inspection on Sunday. To keep track of everything I see I use this hive inspection form available from my local club:  http://www.dcbeekeepers.org/downloadable_files/DCBA_Hive_Inspection_Form.pdf

I'm happy to report that all five of my hives made it through the winter and the queens are laying well. Each colony is bringing in lots of pollen and nectar from the early-blooming plants in my neighborhood. Crocus, henbit, corn speedwell, hellebores, witch hazel and the maple trees are all blooming. These early food sources are critical to the survival all kinds of pollinators, not just honeybees. 

• Do I see signs of the queen?  
  • If I don't then I'll make a note on my inspection form so I can strategize with my mentor about how I might tackle this situation (e.g., combine with stronger hive, give them a frame of eggs to make their own queen, give them a capped queen cell)
  • I should see eggs, larvae and capped brood of various ages.  I'll make a note of how many frames of each for a ballpark estimate of hive strength
• What is her laying pattern? Is it consistently strong or is it spotty?
  • If spotty I'll make a note of that so I can strategize how I want to deal with the situation.  
  • Does the queen have enough room to lay more eggs?  I wouldn't expect to see lots of open nectar at this point in the year but if I were feeding liquid syrup the bees might be filling up the brood nest.  I'll want to make sure she doesn't feel crowded out. 
• Where is the brood nest? How populous is the hive?
  • Are the bees and brood all in the top box?  Is there any brood in the bottom box?  If the brood nest is all in the top box I might switch the boxes and put the brood nest on the bottom board and put an empty box with drawn comb and some frames of pollen and honey in the box above.  This is called "reversing" the hive.
• Do I see drones?
  • Are they walking around the frames? Do I see one or two or dozens?
  • How much drone comb is present? Is it capped? How old does it look?
• What is the temperament of the hive?
  • At this time of year I expect my bees to be calm. If my hive is "hot" (aka really cranky) this time of year then something isn't right. I'll make a note because if this persists then I'll need to come up with a plan to re-queen, likely soon.
• Do I see queen cups (dry, empty) or queen cells (wet, or capped)?
  • What kinds of queen cups/cells do I see? Are they wet or dry?  Are they capped?  How many do I see? I'll need this information start doing the math on when my queen might emerge, be mated and start laying.  
  • Where are the cells positioned on the frame?  Are they along the bottom of the frame (typically a sign of a colony preparing to swarm)? Or are they in the middle of a frame (an "emergency" cell typically a sign the colony is re-queening on its own)?
  • I'll make notes on my inspection form indicating the frame on which the QC is located, the number, type (swarm/emergency), and status of each queen cell/cup.  
  • I'll also take my sharpie and make an indication on the top of the frame and outside of the woodenware so that the next time I go in my hive I don't have to waste time looking. The bees can build up these cells and break them down very quickly after the queen has emerged so if she has hatched between my inspection and the next one I might not find that cell again without my sharpie marks.
• Do my bees have enough food?
  • Do I need to feed? How much 1:1 sugar syrup should I plan on making up? There is still a few weeks to go before the nectar flow ramps up and I don't want my bees to starve while they're expending most of their energy raising new bees.
• What else do I notice in the hive?
  • How do the wings on my bees look? Are they perfectly formed or are they shriveled up? 
  • Do I see small hive beetles? If so I'll make a note to stock up on unscented swiffer sheets to install in my hives on my next inspection.
  • Do I wax moths? I will make a note that this hive may have to much real estate to patrol and that I need to remove some boxes or combine them with a stronger hive.
  • Do I see lots of brown streaks inside my hive? 
  • Are there other signs that are interesting to note?  I'll record these things and take pictures.  If I don't know that I'm seeing then I'll post to the group and ask my mentor to help me.
• What else do I notice in my apiary?
  • Now is the time to think about how I might want to tidy up my apiary before Spring hits and I won't have the time. Are there new rat holes I need to take care of? Refreshing gravel walkways to do?
  • What is the state of my woodenware? Do I need to order replacement equipment? Plan to refresh the stain or put on a new coat of paint?

​What I won't be doing today 

• I won't be taking mite counts.  
  • I've got a lot to do in each hive so my plate is already full.  And, it is too early in the season for me to sacrifice 300 bees from each hive to get the count.  I'll likely wait a 3-4 weeks to take my baseline mite counts for the year.
• I won't be installing frames of foundation
  • the nectar flow isn't on yet so it is too soon to give the bees foundation frames to build out and that empty space to heat and patrol.

When I come inside afterwards I'll review my notes and think about what I saw.  From this I'll be able to plan what I need to do in the coming week including:

• what beekeeping supplies and equipment I'll need to order
• If and how I need to manage the queen cells/cups I saw
• how much sugar I need to buy and syrup I need to make
• if and how I might deal with weak hives

Last year the nectar flow began at the end of March and continued through mid-June, an unexpectedly long bloom period for Washington, DC. My four hives were so strong and the nectar flow went on for so long that I had to have two harvests - one in June and the second in July. I've only got one hive that is likely to make a honey crop this year so my fingers are crossed we get a nice long bloom!

It took long enough but Spring appears to have finally arrived in DC.  Yesterday the weather was a perfect 77F and sunny day which the bees loved. I hope Spring has arrived for you too!

These are the views from the Second Story Apiary on the first and second day of Spring? Can you spot the difference between the two photos? If you spotted the beautiful coating of snow in the second photo you would be right!  We got over 4 inches of wet snow on the second day of Spring.  Happily, the cold doesn't seem to have hurt the blooms or the bees.  The bees were happily flying to and from the hive on the third, much warmer, day of Spring.

To tell the story of life inside a hive I brought a frame filled with honey held safely within a windowed display case so visitors could see what honey looks like when it is still in the honey comb. Few people had ever seen a frame full of honey before and asked lots of questions about it. I also brought a nucleus (aka five-frame) hive so that visitors could see what the inside of a hive looks. It was a great opportunity for visitors to not only see but also smell a beehive. Many people remarked that the inside of a hive smells like honey and beeswax!

Despite the cold, grey, misty weather this morning here in DC I was delighted to see these signs of Spring on my walk with Echo.

Even though Punxsutawney Phil has declared there are six more weeks of Winter to go, you'd never know it by looking inside one of my beehives.  As far as the hive is concerned it is Spring!  The queen has been busy for the past few weeks laying eggs.  Somehow she has known, despite the long stretches of below-freezing temperatures, that the days are growing longer.  This signal has told her it is time to lay eggs, hundreds of them.

Now that there are eggs in the brood nest the worker bees must work hard to keep the bee nursery at 96F to ensure the eggs are warm enough. The bees cluster around the eggs and flex their wing muscles to generate heat.  This effort takes a lot of energy. They begin to consume their honey stores at a faster rate. This is a dangerous time for the colony.  If they consume their Winter honey stores before the Spring bloom begins then they die. But if they don't keep the hive warm enough, the next generation of bees will freeze.  As a beekeeper I try to keep a close eye on things and top up their food stores if needed.

Fingers crossed all is well in the hives!

 The New York Times had a great article on how to choose a candle stick, holder or platform to display your candles to their finest effect.  So many beautiful selections!  If you're looking for a candle to use in one of these artistic creations you have come to the right place!

At the time, the abbey beekeepers were learning to work with varieties of newly imported European honeybees and desperate to try to find a strain that could not just survive but flourish in the cold and damp English weather. ​

Not everything Brother Adam shares is applicable to beekeeping in our time and place. In the forty years since this book was written researchers have learned a lot about bees, their biology, and of course today there different threats to bee health. In addition, the beekeeping environment Brother Adam is writing about is local to Devon, England not our weather or seasons.  ​

In my fourth year of beekeeping I learned: 

• Always have an escape plan 
  You don't want to get stuck on top of a garage roof with a bunch of angry bees inside your veil and no quick way to escape.  Be sure to have a plan and communicate it to others, especially if you need to call upon them if you get in trouble. 
• Two heads are better than one
  During a hive inspection when you run into something interesting (aka a problem), it is always nice to have a partner there to help you, give you a second opinion, be your problem-solving sounding board.  In 2018 I will resolve to do more side-by-side beekeeping.
• Always have a spare
  You never know when you're going to need that extra piece of equipment - a second hive tool, additional medium honey super, spare veil.  This year, my hive populations were booming and I found I needed the parts for two additional nucleus hives.  Having extra equipment on hand allowed me to lend it out to other beekeepers in need. 
• Never turn down an opportunity to engage with other beekeepers
  I learned so much from fellow beekeepers this year who have shared their stories at beekeeping club meetings, in email exchanges and while I worked side-by-side with them inspecting hives. In the coming year I hope to find more of these opportunities and perhaps attend the 2018 Eastern Apicultural Society conference in Hampton Roads, VA.
• Be an ambassador for bees
  This year the Prince George's County (MD) Government sought to change zoning rules. The changes would have made beekeeping illegal for most and impractical for everyone else in the county. The Bowie Upper-Marlboro Beekeepers Association (BUMBA) mounted a powerful and successful campaign to block the changes. BUMBA mobilized support for their position by calling upon the thousands of PG county residents who had attended one of many BUMBA outreach events as well as beekeepers in neighboring jurisdictions and nationally to voice protest to the proposed zoning changes.  As a beekeeper I need to do as much as I can to educate my neighbors, friends, colleagues and other members of the public who have questions about bees.  In 2018 I vow to do more work with BUMBA and the DC Beekeepers Alliance to spread the word about bees and other pollinators.
  
  What did you learn in 2017?
  

This time of year when the nights are long, the temperatures are cold and we turn the calendar from the old year to the new I get a lot of questions about how my bees are doing.  I love questions about bees!

Today the bees are safely nestled in their hive grouped in what is known as their winter cluster. The bees primary goal for the winter is to keep their queen alive. The queen is the future of the hive. To protect her, the worker bees pack themselves into a tight ball with their queen at the center. By flexing their flight muscles the 20-30,000 worker bees collectively generate heat - enough to keep their queen a toasty 75F day and night. 

The bees in the center of this ball constantly shift position and slowly move towards the outside of the cluster to allow the colder bees on the edge of the cluster to take their turn in the toasty core.  Along their journey to and from the edge of the cluster to the middle, the bees will eat some of their winter honey stores.  On the days that the weather warms above 55F the bees will take turns to make short flights to eliminate their waste.  

Sometime in late January as the days begin to lengthen, the queen will begin to lay the first eggs of the 2018 season.  When she does, the bees in the cluster will increase their efforts to keep the eggs and unhatched larvae at a constant 96F.  This work is energy-intensive.  To fuel their efforts the colony will consume upwards of 60 to 80 pounds of honey over the course of the winter.  

This cold and dark time of year is one of mixed emotions for me as a beekeeper because there isn't much I can do for the bees at this point.  I'm anxious wondering whether each of my hives has enough honey stores to keep them well fed despite the fact I left more than 80 pounds of honey in each hive.  I'm happy for the free time I gain each weekend because I'm not having to actively manage my hives. But most of all I'm hopeful about the new year ahead and the beekeeping adventures I will have.