How do the bees handle the cold?

Bees are amazing creatures. The way that most bee discoveries are made is by observation. Jerry Linser went and was looking at his hives in some extreme cold of a week ago and he observed the following:

Beekeeping Class still has openings, starting very soon

Century College

Backyard Beekeeping

This class will prepare you for beginning your beekeeping hobby in early spring. All basics of beekeeping will be covered including:

-Hives and equipment

-Honey bee society and biology

-Hive products and marketing

-Diseases, parasites, pests

-Seasonal management

-Field trip to an apiary

Beekeeping is a fascinating and rewarding hobby. If you have ever been interested in keeping bees, this is your opportunity to learn from a Certified Master Beekeeper.

Robert Sitko, Instructor and Beekeeper

Thursdays, Feb4– Mar 26, 2010. 7 Classes plus one field apiary trip

No class 3/18 & there will be a field trip on a Saturday, TBD

6:30-8:30 PM, East Campus, Room 2561

Course No 20105-2048

$115

Call Century College 651-779-3341 to register.

Bob Sitko
13042 10th St N
Stillwater, MN 55082
651-436-7915

dsrhsitko@msn.com

Package Bee Order Forms

I have mailed out package bee order forms. If you don't get an order form by Wed. call or e-mail me. I may not have your address.

A Beekeeping Workshop

There is a beekeeping workshop in Menomine, WI. It is put on by the Dunn County Beekeepers and the Univ of WI - Extension.
Here is the link for more information.

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/dunn/ag/documents/Brochure2010-BeekeepingWorkshop.pdf

What's Happening in the Hive right now.

The warm weather has been a good deal. The bees should be able to shift their cluster around, hopefully to be on new frames of honey. If you went out to peek under the inner cover you should notice the bees have moved up into the top box. If there was a lot of honey below they might not have moved up yet.
This time of year a hive uses around 12 - 14 pounds of honey a month. Which is about a deep frame and maybe a half of one. The hive continues on this pace of honey consumption until mid Feb. when brood raising starts and honey consumption goes up considerably.
The bees will be going on cleansing flight tomorrow Sat. The high of 34 degrees and the sun will be just right for this. The bees will fly out of the top entrance, fly out, poop and fly back into the colony. It is normal to see dead bees around on the ground dead in front of the hive.

My new web site

I have a website.
http://natures-nectarllc.com
It lists basic information. Contact information, package bee and queen pricing.
I will be sending out package bee order forms next week.

My Chilly Visitor

This Robin has been coming to my heated birdbath lately. I put out my trail camera and took his picture. The date and time is wrong and the temperature today was around 7 degrees F.
I also have had two Eastern Bluebirds and Mourning Doves within the last week.