While the bees are doing well, I’m beginning to become concerned that the bees will use their winter stores up too quickly and starvation will be a real issue come March.   It’s still too early to worry too much, but come March 1st I’ll have to make a point to check hive weights, and recheck them every couple weeks.

The forecast for the next 10 is much the same with highs in the 30s, except of course for Saturday and Sunday when I don’t have to work the day job and planned on working in the unheated garage.  Isn’t that always the case?

The past 3 days have been unseasonably warm with temperatures around 50 degrees.  The bees have been flying heavily and only one inactive hive was seen at the house.  It’s still much to early to tell how well the bees faired over the winter, we still should have a good 2 months of cold weather.   Time will tell.

Typically we would have nearly half our mating nucs out in the field and would be on our 3rd grafting cycle.  But we are only on our first cycle and if it stays too cold or wet this weekend it may be a complete bust.  Interestingly this was the first time I’ve every had customers call and ask if we could delay package bees because of the cold weather.

I just hope this cycle breaks soon…

This does mean however that if you also sell honey, bees and supplies you can safely link to the state associations website swarm removal page without redirecting your clients to a potential competitor.  Though honestly if anyone considers me a competitor I’m flattered,  I don’t have enough time in the day to compete with anyone and my queens, nucs and honey sell out well before the demand runs out.  Frequently this means I’m searching for other reliable sources I can refer my potential customers to because I don’t have the stock or inventory to help them.

My daughter would love these suits (she’s a style freak).  But for myself, I’ll stick to my jeans and boring white jacket, if a wear a suit at all.

This workshop is designed for people who would like to get started in beekeeping, those who have had previous beekeeping experience and want to get back into beekeeping, or those who just want to know more before taking the plunge.

Topics covered will include basic honeybee biology, races of bees, package bees versus nucs and where to get bees, how to start a hive, new and used equipment, keeping bees in a residential setting, feeding, inspections, swarm control, disease and pest  management, producing honey and other hive products and overwintering. Information on package bee, nuc and equipment vendors will be available at the workshop.

When: February 19st from 8:30AM to 4PM

Cost: $25 – Includes book and one year membership to the association.

More details can be viewed here:  2011 Beekeeping Workshop

Is this the cause of CCD and vanishing bees?  Probably not, but widespread use will have significant negative impact on the honeybee population and is just another problem commercial beekeepers struggling to stay in business have to worry about.

So Fresh and the producers of Vanishing of the Bees have started a petition urging the EPA to ban the sale of this poison that threatens bees.   You can view the petition and other information on the EPA memo and CCD here:  Petition to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

So why the big increase in prices?  I don’t have the contacts to really say but my guess for the increase beyond the usual is due to increased demand with more beekeepers starting up every year and packages from Australia not being allowed in this year.  In addition Georgia and many of the other package producing states had a rough season last year.

For now I’ve made the decision not to change my queen or nuc prices for this coming year, but it’s looking like I’ll have to make a significant adjustment next year with the increase in equipment cost and labor.

Unfortunately though we’re subject to increases in prices for the packages we get trucked in for local pickup for our customers.  Details on packages are posted here.

So for a while both the old and new will be running side by side but will eventually have the same content.  So please forgive me if the duplication is a bit confusing and please don’t trip over the tools on the floor.