Friday, March 15, 2013

Frames of Pollen


The temps were over 65 degrees last weekend and the bees in the lang were happy.

Seriously happy.

I took the insulation off the side of the hive to let the sun warm it and within an hour there was a mass exodus of bees on cleansing flights.    It was awesome. 

Since the other hive [Tardis] died, I had a lot of frames of honey and stores to do something with - I'd just as soon the bees use it.     I went through all the frames in the Tardis to see what was left in the hive.   There were a lot of partial frames of honey, some full frames of honey and three brood frames with a considerable amount of pollen stores.

Pollen is at a premium this time of year.   The scilla and crocus are blooming, but the willow and maple haven't started yet.   The bees in the lang can use that pollen.

So, I decided to put the three frames of pollen in the lang.   The problem is that the frames of pollen are deeps, but the top of the lang is medium.   

Not to worry.   I already had an empty medium over the tardis to protect the candy, so I added another one.   I hung the deep frames in the top medium and they hung down past the bottom into the top of the medium below that was protecting the candy.  

Works great.



Now the lang has ready access to pollen right upstairs until the maples and willows bloom.   This will give them a bit of a head start.  

I'll be doing splits from this hive this year as soon as it warms up, so an early build up will be a good thing.  


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