First Spring Feeding
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| Honey bee hives in the Yukon Territory in April. |
There may still be snow on the ground, but our honey
bees have been taking advantage of the beautiful spring temperatures Mother Nature has blessed us with this week. With flower blossoms still a few weeks
away, those worker bees have something much more important on their minds …
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| Early pussy willows |
The search
for POLLEN. One of the first sources of
pollen in the spring is pussy willows. Guess I’m not the only one fond of them!
You might also find a few foraging bees checking out your compost pile, or
buzzing around any rotting wood. Fungus spores are used as pollen before the
trees and flowers become a more reliable source.
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| Bee pollen patties |
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| Bee pollen being added to a hive |
Some lucky honey bees have kind benefactors who are
willing to provide a pollen substitute, in the form of pollen patties. These
are placed in the hive and give the bees ample access to this important
nutrient.
Over the winter
worker bees consume pollen to produce a continual supply of royal jelly to feed
their queen. Come spring, stores of this precious commodity are low. As the
warm weather heats the hive, the winter cluster breaks up, and the queen begins
to lay eggs. She slowly starts the process of replacing winter workers that
will die in the next couple months. Her egg-laying rate will continue to
increase and peak mid-summer. With this new larva to feed, up goes the demand
for pollen.
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| Joel and Courtney checking hives |
With the
temperature around 16oC this afternoon, it was the perfect day to
have a quick peek inside the hives and leave some pollen. We will leave the bee
cozies on just in case Mother Nature isn’t quite done with winter!
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| Honey on left and open cells on right |
It was nice to see
the bees still had a nice store of honey. Empty cells ensure room for the queen
to begin laying eggs.
All the hives have a good number of bees and lots of
honey. They look healthy, and ready for another season of making amazing
Fireweed Honey!
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| Hives look good after initial check |
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