2018 was a good year for the bees! After losing my 2017 colony over the winter, I ordered a nuc (nucleus hive) from a semi-local apiary.
The prior year, I ordered a package of bees from a large apiary in Georgia to start my hive. They were good bees! But nucs have a higher success rate and getting them locally meant I could pick them up instead of subjecting them to the US mail.
Unfortunately, this year’s record setting rainfall was not only problematic for my garden, but it made trouble for local apiaries. That meant I didn’t get my bees until the very end of June instead of the beginning of May as expected.
Getting my bees late meant a few things.
(1) My primary focus needed to be helping ensure they built up a strong enough colony to survive this winter. So, I fed them sugar water for most of the summer and early fall.
(2) They were aggressive. Typically, when you get bees in April – early May, they’re pretty docile. In late June – August they get more aggressive. The natural nectar flow has stopped, so other bees and insects are trying to rob the hive. This makes the bees very defensive. So, installing them during this time was not fun. In fact, I forgot to smoke them at first and ended up getting multiple stings on my legs. This is the first time I have received multiple stings.
I also did regular inspections every two weeks for a while so I could assess when the colony had grown enough to necessitate adding a second box. If you don’t add the second brood box soon enough, the bees get cramped and swarm. Not a good result for someone trying to build a strong colony for winter.
Doing hive inspections during the “hot” period of July – August led to a few more stings. Mostly mild, single stings, but not particularly pleasant.
The good news is that even though the colony was aggravated by my late summer disruptions, it was growing stronger. These are some hardy bees.
And thank goodness because in September, it looked like Hurricane Florence was going to make landfall in the mid-Atlantic and cause very strong winds in DC. I entered into total beekeeper panic mode and might have gone a little too hard on strapping down the hive. Fortunately for DC (and unfortunately for the Carolinas), we didn’t get hit. But now I at least have a system for anchoring down the hive when needed.
In preparation for the winter, I did a final hive inspection and winterized in mid-November. And they had calmed down some – no stings!
I’m trying not to make any of the mistakes of last year. I didn’t feed them any pollen patties this year because they had such strong honey stores. I think they’ll be fine on their own. I’m also going to avoid opening them in January, even if there are some warm days. Basically, I’m taking a bit of a hands-off approach and letting them lead their own survival.
They do seem to be a genuinely very strong and proficient colony. So, I feel confident they can make it. Fingers crossed! If they do survive, I should have my first honey harvest in 2019!
