It’s February 8th and the temperature is 41 degrees. I decide to check on the bees. It has been cold and nasty here. Some the hives were very light.

I checked and was surprised that all but one hive seemed happy and healthy. I can only open the top in this weather and peek in, and a couple of hives had top feeders that were heavily covered with propolis, and in one of these I did not hear any bees. It is a heavy hive so I think it might be OK, but I can’t confirm its health.

The other hives were amazing. They seemed very active. Ward gave me some fondant for the week hives and the ones that had it were working their way through it. They still had extra food left. When I get a day above 50 I will suit up and open the hives and put in more.

I order 3 packages of bees for the Spring figuring that I would lose 4 or 5 hives, but if all 8 hives survive I will have to buy some new hive kits for the new bees.

The new bees are coming in the wee hours of March 28 at the last check. I will waiting at lonely parking lot at 3AM with $360 in my pocket and returning home with about 15,000 new bees for my yard..