FROSTY MEADOW NEWS
Dramatic Early Spring Weight Gains
After several weeks of steady weight losses due to honey consumption in cold weather, our hives have finally begun to gain weight. This medium sized hive gained more than 30 lbs. in less than 10 days. The main nectar source during this time period seemed to be red maple trees.
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Propolis Collection
According to forester and Master Beekeeper Greg Wolgemuth, this reddish orange propolis is pine resin.Typically we see propolis collectors bringing back gray green propolis that is likely from cottenwood trees.
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Marking Queens
After a virgin queen is mated we evaluate her for several quality traits including brood pattern, temper, and productivity. One she has been evaluated she is marked with a small plastic disk glued to her thorax.
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Observation Hives
This makes the situation that we find in honeybees, with so few females and so many males, even more surprising. The reverse condition would be easier to understand, because of very few males, could produce enough sperm for the fertilization of all the egg cells. The regular succession of short and long periods between the appearance of fertile females, the queens, is also a cause for wonder. Into a given time.
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VSH
• The trait is difficult to measure. • Spotty brood can occur in highly selected colonies. • Selection has largely been for varroa resistance , not for honey production etc.
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Multi-Queen Colonies
We use resource hives to create multi-queen colonies. Each queen has a seperate hive on the lowest level, but the top supers are open to all the workers in both hives. These multi-queen monster colonies hav consistently produced more honey than our other hives.