Nucs Arrive May 13, 14, Maybe.

In addition to the packages that are supposed to arrive on April 15th, I ordered a couple of nucs from apiary near, Gooserock Farm, where they breed “Jersey Girl” queens. They will be making up the nucs as soon as the queens are available.

I got this today:

As you all know, Old Man Winter seems very reluctant to loosen his icy grip
this year. The cold wet weather has made it impossible to get good
well-mated queens early in the season and we are not going to be able to get
our nucs ready for pick-up until May 13 and May 14 at the earliest.

I like to try to get them ready a bit earlier than this but it’s just not
going to happen this year. My first priority is the quality of the nucleus
colonies I sell, and to that end, I need to hold onto them long enough to be
sure the queens are well established and laying with a decent pattern.

Thanks, and bee well!

Connie, the hive that made it through the winter, is doing so well that I am going to try a split. I fed her a half gallon of sugar Sunday. Yesterday the girls were coming back with lots of pollen, but weren’t taking the sugar. I’ll check again when I get home.

Martha, the hive I thought was dead, seems to have some bees in her. I can’t tell if they are robbers or not. There was little activity in front of the hive which would indicate they are not robbers. When I opened the hive, though, a bunch of defenders came out. The sugar in her feeder is a little lower, but I saw no bees drinking.

I don’t know what is going on with Martha. If she is alive, she is very weak. I want her to catch up and start growing. I don’t have the heart to kill her, so as long as it looks like there is a queen, I will leave her alone.