Mild December Inspection

Not a Drop
Goes to Waste

Our temperatures have been above normal which has allowed me to keep the feeder on. I wanted to ensure that the bees were ready if we get hit with an extended period of hard weather.

10 Frames Full of Honey

They had stopped taking syrup this past week so took advantage of our 70 degree December day to inspect the hive's stores.  It's never a good idea to completely open up a hive once the bees have it sealed nice and tight with propolis so I only removed the top feeder and then the medium box which was nicely filled wall to wall with honey!

I was surprised to see the bees didn't draw out all the frames in the top brood box but the five inner-most frames were full of honey and pollen. I was pleased to see bees bringing in bright orange pollen this time of year. You may think nothing is blooming right now but with our mild temps, I have shasta daisies blooming in my front garden. Referencing the Pollen Chart it's a good bet the bees have been visiting asters and mums that are thriving since we've not had a hard frost yet.

One thing to keep an eye on during a mild winter is that the hive population will remain larger than normal and will begin building up sooner than expected. That's one reason I kept the medium super on top of the two brood boxes. This strong hive is going to explode at the first opportunity as the queen will begin laying again around the time of the Winter Solstice. I plan to take advantage of that to make an early split come spring. Until then, I get to enjoy watching the bees flying about on these mild December days.