February Ramblings

I feel like Spring should be coming. The days are getting longer...and last week I ordered some bees. Today I  was thinking how i should go over to the workshop and dig out a few more new hive boxes to paint. But when i wandered over there....i see no one gave Mother Nature the memo about Spring. The snow is still quite deep, half way up the door. So painting will have to wait.

Hives stands we will build this year

 It also got me to thinking what else we will need before the new bees arrive. I heard from a friend that the old outside covers we have don't fit the new hive bodies...i just hope we can plane them down a bit to make them fit, so we wont have to buy new ones right now. I also need new inside covers. We are trying to update all our really old equipment. The problem was the new frames wouldnt fit the old boxes, they would end up sliding down inside the boxes and the bees would get really creative with their comb, so come this spring the bees will be moving into their new digs.
Another new thing for us this year, are hive stands. They will be similar to the one below. I am really looking forward to using them instead of pallets. We have always used pallets with plywood on top. But when it rains the water just sits on it and can sometimes make the bottom of the hive wet. And also it gives a nice perch for the likes of that nasty bee eating bird that was hanging around our hives last summer. So the new stands will be great.

Today after waking up to another 7 or 8 inches of fresh snow, i waited until it stopped and wandered over to the bee yard to check on the girls.  After trudging thru the new snow armed with a brush and snow shovel....i arrived to a nice surprise. The large overhangs on the hives kept most of the snow away from the entrances. A quick sweep and they were all set. But its getting harder to get rid of the snow in front of the hives. Under the raised pallet stands, its completely full of snow, so now i have to shovel it off to the side. A few of the girls briefly came out for a visit, then dive bombed into the snow. I spent the next few minutes rescuing them and putting them back inside the entrances, so they could live another day.
Anyways, i am getting excited for warmer days and opening up the hives to check on their food supplies. I am hopeful they still have lots left but always feel better when it warms up enough to take a look.
But for now......i have to sit back and wait.

It may take a while yet for all
 this snow to go