Happy New Year

Yesterday I visited the girls, to wish them a happy new year, and see how this odd, mild winter is treating them. There are only a few dead so far, and since the day was in the 40s, I saw a few bees leave the hive, and others were doing housekeeping duties. I added a quart of syrup for them, since the weather is relatively warm, and finally put a wrap on the hive.

I had planned to wrap much earlier, but the weather has been so mild, it hardly seemed worth it. I'm still not sure that it is, but it can't hurt.

I wonder if such mild weather will cause the girls to use more stores, since they'll be moving around more. While the goldenrod flow was great, and I assume they they made the most of it, I'm too new to all this to really be sure. And I don't want to open the hive now, even if the weather is mild.

I still have a few frames of honey and pollen to give them, stored by their sister colony last fall. I went through the supers yesterday, checking which have drawn comb, which have stores, and sorting through things. I have some woodenware to put together for the spring, which I may well do today. Staining will wait, of course, but I'll need more deeps for brood boxes, and I hope I'll need more medium supers for honey!

One problem I noticed yesterday was a distinct tilt to the hive. It looks like the uneven weight made the cider blocks under the hive sink more in one spot than another. I righted everything by propping a corner up with another cinder block, but it does raise a question for the new hives. I've never thought of my land as soft (I usually think of it as clay, lightened by rocks!) but obviously, this spot isn't ideal.

For Christmas, I made candles, hand cream, and lip balm for my family. They were a big hit with everyone. My aunt tells me that her aunt raised bees in Virginia, and that comb honey, especially tulip poplar comb honey, was a favorite with her father. He, however, was terrified of bees! That's a phobia inherited by many in my family, unfortunately, but I guess my grandfather's sister's genes must have been passed to me.