55 tomorrow

[anna...@gmail.com]

So it looks like it will be 55 tomorrow.  If I know my hives are in the top box, how much can I mess with them to make sure they have enough food?  I didn't do emergency sugar with a shim on one particular hive (left a full super of honey on top of 2 deeps) but I'm nervous about the honey stores.  Should I open up and pull frames to check and add full honey frames if needed?  Or just throw a shim on with sugar patties?  How much do people open hives in winter to check stores?

I know I'm babying them, but when you only have 2 hives...

thanks! Annali

[Carrie Williams]

I'd just throw a shim on and add sugar. Fifty degrees will seem warm to us and the bees will be flying but I wouldn't muck around in the hive.

Carrie

'A veteran is someone who, at one point, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including their life.'

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[Jeanne Hansen]

Yes, at 55 degrees, bees will be flying.  Notice the size of the cluster on the top bars.  You can lift the outer frames on that top super, checking for honey in them.  Keep lifting until you get to frames with no honey, but without disturbing the cluster.  Exchange empty frames for full ones.  

It never hurts to add solid sugar.  Put a piece of newspaper or a flat coffee filter directly on the top bars, directly on the bees, and pour in sugar.  My brother only adds a cup at a time, in a circle only the size of the cluster, not all over the entire area of the box.

At 55 degrees, you can lift off the top super  to check the deeps below.  Again, if the center frames are empty, but the outer ones have honey, exchange them.  It is better to disturb the bees a bit, than to let them die of starvation!  

JEANNE

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Jeanne Hansen

824 Jacobson Ave

Madison,WI

608-244-5094

[Jack Rademacher]

When it’s warm the bees will move to available honey stores. The big issue is when there is an extended period of extreme cold the bees cluster very tightly and don’t move. If the cold lasts too long they will completely consume the stores under the cluster and then starve/freeze out even though there might be adequate stores 4”-5” away. This last cold snap was only about a week long so in general my bees were fine and I’m sure they’ve moved to an area that has adequate stores. I only lost 2 of 21 hives and one of those hives was weak with dysentery. The only inspection I did was to make sure they had sugar bricks remaining. I definitely will not pull frames this time of year. They’ll go after the sugar bricks even though they might have adequate stores but sugar bricks are cheap compared to buying bees. 

On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 9:47 AM 'Carrie Williams' via madbees <mad...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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[Joseph Bessetti]

Hi All,

Our April meeting will be held next week, Tuesday, April 8, 6:30 - 8:00 pm at the Pinney Library on Cottage Grove Rd, Madison.  

Andrew Berna will discuss Swarm Trapping.  If you have a swarm trap design that you'd like to share, please feel free to bring it to the meeting.  

We'll also have an update on club apiary plans for VSH queens from Lloyd St. Bees and opportunities for members to get involved.

Thanks,

Joe

[Dawn Morales]

Is it recorded or can I phone in? I will be on vacation but would love to hear and participate if possible. 

Dawn

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[Paul Zelenski]

As of now, we’ve never been set up to do that. 

But it has been suggested in the past. I do think it is something worth looking into. Maybe one of the more tech savvy people can help. I assume it’s not difficult, but I’m no expert.  

On Apr 1, 2025, at 5:16 AM, Dawn Morales <lv2p...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Janelle Hillman]

Hi Joe,

Just wanted to make sure you get the correct person for this email. I am not Carrie, perhaps this was meant for another member? 

Janelle 

On Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 12:25 PM Joseph Bessetti <jbes...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Carrie,

Hope you and your bees are doing well.  I'm hoping I can interest you in presenting at our May meeting (May 6).  I know you've had some success the last few seasons and I understand that you have been fairly regimented in your approach to managing Varroa and preparing your colonies for winter.  We have a lot of new beekeepers, many of whom have yet to get a colony through winter, so I think it would be great if you could share your strategies with the rest of the group and what you feel are the keys to success.  (I'd like for it to be contagious.)

Let me know if this is something you would be willing and able to do.

Thanks!

Joe

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[Dawn Morales]

If one of my friends attends we can FaceTime or she can record it with permission of course. 

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[Joseph Bessetti]

If there are people who are especially interested in the swarm trapping, a weekend workshop in which we prep, and perhaps even hang, swarm traps might be another thing to consider.  

I'm hesitant on live streaming or recording our meetings in part because people may start choosing to dial in to the meeting regularly instead of attending.  There are a lot of things we try to do at meetings that are hands-on, and there is a lot of spontaneous discussion that takes place and connections made between members that wouldn't happen if we don't attend in person.  

I'm not opposed to the idea of trying to somehow connect you with the meeting Dawn, but I think we can do better.  Let me know if the idea of a workshop resonates with you or not.  Alternatively, if someone attending takes some notes on the presentation and some photos of the swarm traps that are brought and shared, that might be another approach to share the meeting content with people who couldn't make it, and perhaps more importantly, it wouldn't require you disrupting your vacation time!

Regards,

Joe

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From: mad...@googlegroups.com <mad...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Dawn Morales <lv2p...@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 1, 2025 10:59 AM
To: mad...@googlegroups.com <mad...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [madbees] DCBA April Meeting

 

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[Dawn Morales]

I am up for swarm trapping! Let me know what the peeps at the meeting say! Anything to get experience is awesome for me!

Dawn

PS- thanks for not wanting to interrupt my vacation. 

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