Hive activities have been somewhat WEIRD due to the cooler weather and rainfall in March and April. To prioritize the health of your colonies, here are a few recommendations for the month of May:
- Assess colony strength: Ensure boxes remain populated by consolidating low-population hives into fewer boxes. Too much space is bad!
- Monitor for swarm cells: Ask the bees if they are making preparations to swarm. If they don’t reply, look for swarm cells.
- Verify queen status: The presence of larvae and eggs indicates an active, laying queen.
- Mite management: Conduct tests to see if intervention is necessary to manage mite levels. If you see mites on your bees, then you have a mite problem.
- Supplemental feeding: Providing syrup to weaker colonies can encourage population growth.
Please reach out with any questions or concerns regarding your hives, and include images.
