Environmental Notes

• Spring has sprung, and our cherries and red maples are blooming.
• Nectar is coming on strong in our area.
• The hives are raising drones, which means swarm season is right around the corner.

Yard Layout

To keep everything straight this year, I am using a position system based on the entry gate:

• Rows are numbered 1-3, starting at the gate.
• Hives in each row are numbered from right to left.
• Capacity is 3 hives on row 1, 2 hives on row 2, and 3 hives on row 3.

Here is the layout map:

+----------------------------------+
| R3: [r3h3] [r3h2] [r3h1]         |
| R2:        [r2h2] [r2h1]         |
| R1: [r1h3] [r1h2] [r1h1]         |
|                           GATE > |
+----------------------------------+

What We Did

• We kicked off the bee year with a bang.
• It was 84 degrees when we started inspections, unseasonably warm for March.

First Hive (R1H1)

• A quick inspection found the queen in the upper brood box with 10 frames of brood, resources, and honey.
• We performed a classic split into two hives, placing the new hive at R2H2.

Second Hive (R1H2)

• Another classic split.
• The second hive was placed at R1H3.

Third Hive (R2H1)

• Only a tiny amount of eggs and brood.
• We reduced this colony down to one box.
• I do not think they will make it.

Fourth Hive (R3H1)

• Emergency Demaree.
• I could not find the queen, so I did the next best thing: shook all bees into the bottom box, put brood above, and moved on.
• Not ideal, but it should prevent a swarm in the next few days.

Fifth Hive (R1H3)

• This hive appears to have absconded as well.

Next Look

• By the end of this round of splits, it looks like we are sitting at 6 hives.
• We may lose one due to weak population, but we may also gain one if I complete a full split from the Demaree colony once I locate the queen.
• I will give it a week, inspect again, and decide whether to split or cut queen cells and keep one monster hive.