Happy New Year! It's been awhile since I wrote. I have been very busy with work and family but I also haven't had the heart to update you on my bee yard happenings.
A couple of weeks after my last post it became quite unseasonably warm outside. Of course I had to go check out the last remaining hive to see how Queen Latifah was doing. It was such a lovely day, the bees should have been very busy. There was no activity. I knew before I opened her up that all was not well.
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| Last cluster of bees |
The bees in this picture are all dead with their heads in the cells. They probably starved even though there was honey to be had because they had to stay together to remain warm. Heartbreaking. I sent this photo to my beekeeper friend and he suggested sending it to the Provincial Apiarist to look at just in case they had died as a result of pesticide poisoning. I knew that their demise was more likely the result of being overcome by mites but I did send it along. I had a great conversation with Paul Kozak, Provincial Apiarist and was very open with him about not using treatments. He didn't castigate me...simply said that it was hard to do and wished me luck.
I went to the monthly meeting of the Beekeepers Association and told them my sad tale of woe and again, there was no judgment, just nodding and wishing me luck. Beekeepers are so angry and worried about the pesticide issues that they are becoming more understanding of wacky trials of working differently. I remember being so very smug at the top of the summer when my bees were doing so well and the other beekeepers had lost so many hives over the winter. No smugness now!
So what is next? I am planning on starting over! I will get nucs (small hives) that are made in shallow frames so they will fit into my small hives. I am planning on ordering bees from two different breeders so that I can compare them. I still won't use treatments. I saved a bunch of frames of honey for the new bees so I can feed them that to avoid using sugar syrup. I am ready to do it again since I feel that I have learned so much in my first two seasons of beekeeping. I am still a novice beekeeper but I am very excited to give this another go.
I promise to keep writing about my ongoing adventures in beekeeping. And if anything interesting comes up in the meantime, you might hear from me. In the meantime, best wishes for 2013 to all of you!
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| Tumbleweed in the snow behind ironwork. |
