Water Wherever You Find It

Today was a beautiful, sunny spring-like day with temps in the low 50's. We were standing by the corner of the front porch enjoying watching the orientation flights around the OV hive when we noticed a bee on the paving stones at our feet. Those resourceful bees were taking water that had dripped down from porch gutter. We placed a shallow birdbath nearby and filled it with water. I attempted to relocate one of the drinking bees to the rim but it was airborne as soon as I let go, zooming around me before heading back to the hive. I could have sat and watched these bees all afternoon, but I had hive bodies to put together so back to work for me.

Winter, I hardly knew ye

Our winter in Southern Maryland has been so mild that you can't really call it winter at all. Mostly, our daytime temps have been from the 40's to the 60's and overnights didn't drop below freezing until mid-January. Yesterday was near 70! The OV hive never clustered but the Sasha hive had honey until just a few weeks ago. Been feeding both hives, splitting a batch of fondant every 3-4 days and the bees have been bringing in pollen for a few weeks now.

There has been much discussion on the BUMBA list-serve on whether to feed sugar syrup with our mild temps. Some have but I was worried about the cold nights and the added moisture that would add to the hive. I know it is time for the queen to ramp up her laying but it is still just February, after all.

So I'll be patient another few weeks and then will do a full inspection, swap the boxes, super up, check for swarm cells, etc. In the meantime, I put together my 3rd hive and get it painted. Another season of beekeeping begins.