The place i had ordered a nuc from in the New Year had suffered losses also and couldn't supply me with bees. So i desperately searched for a new source. I found someone who was bringing up a large amount of nucs from the lower mainland. So i ordered 2.
To make a long story short, the bees weren't in very good shape. One hive was better than the other. One struggled since i got them, they hardly expanded their numbers, very little pollen was brought in and no capped honey. I tried all i could to save them. We even sent some questionable larvae to the lab. A mite test showed they were infested big time. And even after treatment, nothing could be done to save them. The lab test showed nothing like AFB or EFB. The inspector figured it was a mite related virus. I felt sooo defeated.
Thankfully the other hive seems to be doing good. And even though they still have chalk brood, the hive is large and vigorous. They have a good amount of capped honey and a good amount of bees so if there is a bee god...they will make it through the winter.
The summer has been a horrible one. It started off really hot, then it cooled down. Then we were socked in with smoke for a weeks. Now, here it is Sept 12 and we had snow today, yes you heard me SNOW. Although it was only mixed in with the rain, the snow is half way down the mountain. Last night on the weather we had heard of minus temperatures over the next couple days, so after the news i went out and gave the girls another frame of partially capped honey and wrapped the bottom 2 boxes with the silver bubble wrap insulation. This should keep them comfortable until better weather returns. Winter can't possibly be coming already.....right?
Anyways, with the threat of minus temperatures arriving soon, its time to get the candy boards done and deciding on what form of winter wraps will be going on this winter. Well....that's all for now, i am going outside to enjoy this beeutiful Autumn day.
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