Preparing for Winter

Today, we checked on our two hives and found they are still doing well.  The bees are very busy preparing for our mild Texas winter.  There wasn’t much for us to do for the bees in hive 02 and 04, but we made sure to give them some food supply.  We added sugar water to the two frame feeders in each hive and also added one winter patty to each hive, directly on top of the frames.  Winter patties are a high carbohydrate food for colonies light on stores so they will have a food source during the winter months.   While there are some flowering plants still available to the bees, with winter coming, the supply will soon dwindle down. 

Hive 02 population has doubled since their new queen was introduced.

Hive 02 has started drawing comb for the first time in several weeks.

Hive 02 bees busy tending to their honey stores.





Doug and Linda's property has a great water source for the bees. 

Large oak tree where boneset flower stalks grow tall in the shade.

The bees were all over the boneset flowers.  Notice her unusual white pollen basket.

Bee collecting boneset pollen and nectar.

White pollen from the boneset flower coats the bees.

We found a few aromatic aster flowers near the hives.

We also found snakeweed nearby.

On another note, Mark and I decided that we will increase our hive count this spring to eight, so we ordered six nucs that we will pick up in late February or early March from BeeWeaver in Navasota, Texas.  It will be a big leap to grow our hives from two to eight, but we are excited and ready to take on the challenge.  Our next visit to see the bees will likely be to take advantage of the cooler weather and install new foundations to hold the hive bodies.