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I looked into my hives today. I had shims on and did have to clean up some comb on top of the frames. Is that a good thing? Saw lots of capped brood including drone. I also saw lots of cells filled with nectar?? Have no idea where they are getting it.

I have a maple tree in my yard that produces red leaves, but I am not sure that it is a red maple. I have attached a bud I just clipped off the tree. Can anyone tell from this?

The bees are out in force this morning with the warm temps. I read on Nancy Rupert's calendar that January was a month for adding pollen substitutes. I really don't know if that is necessary this month. About every 3rd bee coming into the hives are loaded with bright, yellow pollen. Have no idea whe...

I treated for Varroa in August and afterward did a sugar shake test later that month. I had zero mites shake out. Then I test in October and have lots of mites (4.3%). Is that surprising to you? Have you seen Varroa come back that hard and fast?

P.S. I read an older post that said that a Varroa problem can weaken a hive and make SHBs worse. My mite count today was 4.3%

I just did that final varroa check on my strong hive and saw maybe a dozen or more SHBs. In the past I had used the plastic traps that go in between the frames (mineral oil), but this year I used Beetle Bee-Gone sheets. Beetles were worse today than they were in August. Should I be using another typ...

When a hive got robbed out this summer I got most of the frames in the freezer right away. But I didn't have room for one medium box of frames. Today I went to put them in the freezer (should have done this much earlier) and wax moths have made there way through a few frames. They are in the freezer...

The calendar on GCBA site recommends a final check for Varroa Mites in October. My hive was virtually with no mites when I checked late August. I'm interested in if you believe an October check is warranted.

Good luck!

I don't believe it was Varroa. I treated and then tested afterward and saw no mites. My SHB count hasn't been bad this year. I didn't use pollen patties this summer. I have used traps which kept the numbers down. I don't know, but thanks. I will check closer for queen health in the future. I will no...

I did tear the fallen hive down and put all the frames in the freezer. My other hive is amazingly strong. The capped brood is wall to wall with very few empty cells. I guess I should have requeened the robbed out hive. Hind sight being 20/20, I did see an uneven pattern of brood in that hive. Are th...

I've noticed my one remaining hive (the other got robbed out) is more aggressive this summer than before. This is the third year with this colony and it was much more gentle, docile, in 2021 and 2022. I used to go out this time of year and change feeding bottles with no protective gear, but not anym...

My hive was completely robbed out and every bee was killed. This despite using all recommended defenses. Somehow, the robbing screen kept getting set back about a half inch from the super and they got in. I don't know how, because I would repeatedly make sure it was flush against the super. I believ...

I have one hive that is being robbed relentlessly. They were trying to rob my one hive on Sunday, then switched to the other yesterday. They are back today continuing to try and rob the same hive. Luckily I had robbing screens on. I have closed all entrances to the robbing screen. I also taped the h...

Good news! I checked the hive yesterday and was pleased to find multiple frames of capped brood and young larvae. I believe the frame of brood from the other hive you suggested worked, as I found one single empty queen cell on that frame that wasn't on there when I put it in. But looking at the time...

How much honey could one expect from a single colony in our area? How much honey should I leave for the bees?

I have removed some full frames of capped honey, but I don't want to extract the honey for another couple of weeks. Is it okay to freeze the frames till I'm ready to extract?

Today was day 4, so I checked the frame of brood/larvae for queen cells and didn't see any. It looked as though the bees were caring for the larvae, so maybe a virgin queen is there? Should I wait two weeks and check again?

I do have another colony with brood frames. I will give that a try tomorrow...putting a frame of brood with eggs in the hive and check back in 4 days. Thanks.

I marked a new queen in this hive in August. I last inspected 4/12/23. At that time I couldn't find her but saw larvae (open and capped) in the bottom two boxes, so wasn't too concerned. Today I don't see any eggs, larvae capped or uncapped, and could not find the queen again. Lots and lots of bees....