It went up to 40°F yesterday. Today it might hit 50°.

A month ago I checked the bees when the temperature went up briefly and I saw live bees in 6 of the 8 hives.

Yesterday I saw live bees in 7 of the 8 hives. The clumps are small, but alive. If the queens live, I stand a chance of having 7 good hives to start the Spring.

I dug out the front of the hives and pulled the entrance reducers so the bees could get out and take cleansing runs. I put in front feeders with 60/40 sugar solution. I mixed 10 pounds of sugar so each hive gets over a pound.

So far this morning none of the hives have taken any of the sugar. It is still too cold for them to break their clumps up. The ball of bees around the queen keeps her warm. If it hits 50° today, I might see some activity.

It will be above 40° all week so I am hoping that the hives start moving around and take the sugar. I have 10 more pounds so I can refill the feeders.

In three weeks I will get three packages so I may need to buy a couple of hives. I have one empty hive and the hive where one hive died. It may be that I will lose another hive. If I don’t I’ll need a hive for the new package.

In May I will do splits so I will definitely need some boxes then.