Soft Maple Blossoms - February 8, 2015

Another warm (70 F) day in February.  Found a big ol' soft maple in my yard in full bloom.  Did not see any bees around them even though they were flying around the hives.

Checking Hives - February 7, 2015

What is so rare as a 70 deg day in February!  Especially in mid-Missouri.  Actually, 50+, if not 70, deg days are not that unusual and such days give us a chance to check up on our hives.  First I weighed the four hives at values ranging from 66.5 to 75.0 pounds.  That's not much different from what I got three weeks ago so I guess the bees are still conserving energy for the spring push.

When I peeked in I found in two of the hives the cluster was at the top of the box under the inner cover with each one filling 5 or six gaps between frames.  There was plenty of honey and the honey was in the classic arch above empty comb.  In the other two hives the clusters were just below the third boxes which were full of honey - maybe some extracting this spring?  I didn't bother to check for eggs or brood - that can wait until next month.  All in all, I'm a happy camper.

It was also a very nice day to work in the shop.  I added a new, longer table for my radial arm saw which will make it easier to rip the long pieces of plywood for my wide hives.  I also started assembling deep frames which will soon be needed - 100 today.