What I like about the winter is that it's a time when you can snuggle up with a book or a movie or a game and wile away the day guilt free! If I get one or two chores done, know what's for dinner and had my shower, and make the bed, then I feel like I can do that for the rest of the day. But that's about the only thing I like about the winter.
I'm a summer gal/lady/old lady/grandma lady...through and through. This week, I began the process of 'thinking summer'. I planted some seeds.
Someone sent a link about starting seeds outside in January and February in empty plastic jugs that have been cut in half and had holes drilled for drainage. Then fill them with dirt, plant your seeds, water thoroughly and put the cover back on and tape it shut a bit and put outside. I put them on my patio table. I need more jugs, but have one more to use this week.
Today I finished cleaning my last hive part and painting the outside of the last super. Others are all done and waiting to go out in late April to be ready for bees to come in early May. I like starting the year with cleaned hive parts. It's easy to do if you lose your bees because it's starting fresh. Not really what we want but it happens very often. If all the parts are outside being used, it's more difficult to get them all cleaned each year.
I'm excited about this year because I will start with two Nucs. That will give me two hives where I can compare them and also use them to supplement the other hive, if needed. It would be great to have two fully functioning hives.
I will treat for varroa mites this year and will not allow bee robbing which is what happened this year. I allowed my hive too many entrances and this gave robbers another avenue in. Plus my hive wasn't strong enough to fend them off.
I just saw a notice in the Brattleboro Beekeepers Facebook page that some mushrooms are being used (experimentally) to control varroa mites! That would be wonderful. Another tool in the toolbox. It seems that they just made a solution with it and let the bees drink. That would be easy for the beekeeper to manage.
Mid February is all about getting through it. Today is our second snowstorm in a week...or is it the third? It might be the third. But who's counting?
No comments:
Post a Comment