Thanks for asking! For my first attempt at beekeeping, Mother Nature sure was tough on me. If losing my hive wasn’t enough, our first real winter storm blew a tree down on it! My hive took a glancing blow from one of the main branches of the felled tree. It only dented the tin of the outer cover but it crushed my hive stand. 

I recovered the hive and have a new stand. I have a new beeswax coated top feeder with the appropriately sized shroud. My Nuc is on order for late April delivery and I can’t wait to start. There’s a healthy beekeeping community around that has been supportive so while I’ve made some noob errors, I hope to manage better come spring. 

I hope you have better luck this year!

I keep my fingers crossed!

It’s been a trying offseason. I was a bit late getting my ant colonies out of hibernation but that’s fodder for another forum. My 6-frame Nuc with a Varroa Sensitive Hygiene (VSH) queen is scheduled for an April 27th pickup. VSH queens are bred from single drone insemination and selected for Suppressed Mite Reproduction (SMR) trait. Drones and queens carrying this trait produce workers with the ability to detect and eliminate pupae with elevated Varroa mite load thereby decreasing the frequency of treatment necessary for the hive.

Thusfar, I’ve assembled my new hive stand.

I’ve assembled my new top feeder and placed a thick bead of food-grade silicone sealant around the wire mesh screen to prevent escaping bees from drowning in the nectar. I’m waiting for that to cure before placing it on the hive. I think I’m read and look forward to starting. 

I am really excited to see how this goes!

And thank you for explaining about the varroa sensitive queen- only read about varroa yesterday and wondered what is was.

Ernteameise,

I have a publication on bee pathogens written more for amateur or small scale commercial beekeepers than veterinary clinicians. If you’re interested, I be glad to send it along. 

Edited by ConcordAntman, April 26 2024 - 6:57 PM.

Ernteameise,

I have a publication on bee pathogens written more for amateur or small scale commercial beekeepers than veterinary clinicians. If you’re interested, I be glad to send it along. 

Oh wow, this is cool.

Yes, I would like to check it out!

I have a colleague who is a bee-keeper and they sell their honey locally (this is where I get my honey from) and I might share it with her, too.

Why not give the new colony a full frame of capped honey? This would eliminate the need for mixing ingredients, potential underfeeding and prevent bees from drowning in the feeding chamber. My guess is 10,000 bees should be able to protect a frame of capped honey. I use to keep a few hives in the late 80s and this would be my inclination, but I'm no expert and not familiar with modern beekeeping methods.