I checked my hive yesterday and I was hoping to see a third box that was well drawn out with honeycomb. In fact I was hoping that there might have been one frame of honey that I could take and harvest but I was disappointed.
When I opened the hive and checked the top box I saw numerous bees walking around in there, but the frames in the top box looked totally untouched. If seemed like the bees had cleaned the frames up a little but I didn't see even the earliest signs of the foundation being drawn out.
The weather the last few weeks has been spotty and I live in a suburban neighborhood so perhaps there just hasn't been the resources available to draw out the top box.
I posted to the bee exchange board wondering if I should start feeding again. It doesn't really matter if I get a lot of honey this year, but it would be great if I could harvest at least a little to see what the honey in my hive tastest like.
According to the replies on the bee exchange board the empty third box is not unusual. Apparently in this area most of the major nectar flows are over so the bees don't really have the resources for stockpiling, thus the empty box.
One person suggested I remove the third box, so I'm thinking that the next time I check the bees I'll do that. Since I plan to move the hive in the winter anyway it would be much easier to move two boxes instead of three, so that at least is a plus.
I am disappointed that I might not get any honey this year, but I've read that isn't uncommon and hopefully good choices made this year will result in a really good harvest next year.
Oh, and so I don't forget one person recommended I medicate my bees with Fumigil in the fall. I haven't even thought of medications yet.
-Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment