Things seem to be going along splendidly – with only a couple of exceptions, hives are building up at a normal pace, nectar and pollen are coming in and Nuc creation is not behind schedule (it is a relief to finally be managing less than 50 hives! I am no longer constantly behind schedule!!!)

Site Update: Honey Bee Nuc order form is now live and I fixed the Spring Reminders!

Last weekend, I realized that I need a lot more Deep frames to keep going. I started to go back through my records, as I do not remember running out of Deep frames this early in the season. I discovered that the “problem” was that I only lost two hives over the Winter. Normally, I suffer 10% losses on average (from a range of 3.4% to 34.1%) and use the Deeps from those dead out’s to replace frames pulled from my parent hives to create the Nucs. I need something to replace those frames! This past Winter, I only lost 2 hives! This has created a few challenges and one interesting new find (I am always learning!!)

From the challenge standpoint, I normally start painting my plastic frames (with melted beeswax) and building new frames with fresh foundation around tax day. I have had to squeeze in time to get this done now, which was not anticipated. I will not be caught flatfooted next year (although, I am willing to be that losing only 2 hives is likely to be an exception and not the rule, going forward.)

But, from a “Jones is always learning” standpoint, I had one of my theories tested (or actually proven false.) I have long believed that putting foundation into hives in March only increased their likelihood of swarming. Why? Because I did not think that the temperatures were high enough or the flow was good enough for them to draw new wax. By taking a drawn frame (to populate a Nuc) and then replacing it with a frame of foundation or painted plastic, I just removed a room or two from their house, which they would not replace until late April (when I believed real wax drawing started.)

Well, last weekend, I had to drop some plastic foundation (painted with my beeswax) into some hives as I created Nucs. Yesterday, I had to go back into one of those hives (I wanted to create a Medium Nuc from that strong gal, in addition to the Deep Nuc I created last weekend). While looking for the queen, I found that they had drawn out a fair amount of wax! I had to pull the frame a second time to double check (my brain wouldn’t accept it! ha.) It just goes to show, I need to always remember that every single “conclusion” that I think is a “fact” is simply just a theory when it comes to honey bees!