It seems like winter just doesn’t want to let go this spring. I’ve actually seen snow falling more than half the days this past week. It hasn’t been terribly warm this week and the snow that has been sweeping across the country from Colorado to the Northeast arived this afternoon. I couldn’t get a picture because it’s now dark, but there is an inch or two on the ground now and it hasn’t stopped yet. The kids even wanted go go sledding (there is actually enough for that), but mom vetoed that idea in favor of bed time.
Needless to say nothing has gotten done beekeeping wise. Last year this time I was making up mating nucs and putting out the first batch of queens. This year it’s simply too cold to begin. The shipment of package bees was also delayed due to the weather. I’m eager to get started, but it was probably a good thing. Hopefully this next week will be more promising. It doesn’t look like a warm forcast, still below normal, but should get into the 50′s. The package bees should be here late this coming week, and with luck it will be warm enough to start grafting and inspecting hives. I expect to find a few more hives that were lost in the past couple weeks with the cold weather and snow, but only a few. Still, it could push our final loss to 60%, a full 6 times our normal loss.
