A new "and improved?" year to come

Let's hope that the new bee season to come is better than last year's season where I lost all my bees.

I attended a workshop this past weekend and there were about 12 people there who all shared their experiences. I left there not feeling alone anymore.  Many of the beekeepers experienced bee losses last year. Some, like me, didn't exactly know what caused their hives to collapse.

I am still trying to understand what happened to my hives.  I took one of my frames from last year with me to see if contained varroa or nosema but the instructor said no...it just looked like a bear had gotten that frame.  And one had!

After I took my hives down in the fall, I stored the frames in my greenhouse so that would deter the moths which like a dark environment.  However, before the bear went into hibernation, they came by, apparently, and smelled the honey in the greenhouse and broke in.  They pushed in one panel on the side and roof and squeezed in and took some frames outside and got what they could.  Now my frames are stored in the shed for the winter, or down in the basement, or "down cellar" which is the term I use.

This year, I will scorch each frame and hive boxes, and add new foundation so that we start with a clean hive.  If all goes well, I will start a Nuc from the one hive so that I will have extra bees of my own in case I need them in the future.  That was the recommendation of Imagine That Honey over in Swanzy, NH.  This beekeeping group will strive to produce our own bees so that we don't need to purchase bees from down south.  We would like to have our Northern bred bees which should be heartier than those from elsewhere and much less stress for them.  I think it's a great goal!

The thinking about my bee loss last year where the remaining bees all died in front of my hives is pesticides.  I have no control over what other people do around here but I did let my entire street know about my hives and to please not use pesticides.  I think most listened.  But I know one neighbor used them to kill barberry bushes cropping up throughout the woods and fields around here. I don't know what the answer is since bees fly up to 5 miles away from the hive to gather nectar and pollen. I can only hope that my bees don't run into it again.  Cleaning the hives can help to reduce any pesticides that might be in the hive so starting off clean is about all I can do and hope for the best.