Temperature was about 50°F (or a bit more) yesterday so I added top feeders to all hives with about 1 gallon of 2-1 sugar syrup. The bees were flying and bringing in some pollen. Still not much in bloom. Maple trees are close but there is no pollen in the buds. I saw a few ground cover plants with blooms. The day time weather for the upcoming week is forecast to be low to mid 40s. As I did not pull brood frames, I don’t know how large the brood area is. Still feeding candy and protein supplement.

In keeping with the plan to reduce swarming, I added a super of drawn comb to all the hives. Per the checker boarding directions I alternated empty comb frames with capped honey in the top two supers. There is good bee cover on the comb and capped brood that will be emerging in several days. I added candy and protein supplement to all the hives yesterday and the protein was covered with bees today. There was lots of pollen coming in mostly grey colored. I found some nectar being stored. Since I’m not feeding syrup the bees are finding something they like.

Today was the first warm day this month that I could open hives and check for brood. I was very pleased to find that both capped brood and larval were present. Several hives have a good amount of honey so I only added protein supplement to them. I added candy and protein to the hives that were light and moved the bottom super to the top on all hives. I took my time looking at frames and found the queen in several hives. I have a few more hives to inspect tomorrow.

One hive has a lot of brood and also a lot of drones and drone cells in the middle super. At first I thought there was a drone lying queen and the colony was in trouble. I was moved into the bottom super and found three frames of capped brood in a good solid pattern. Just when I think I know something about bees they surprise me! That hive will need extra attention as I think it is working on swarming. Tomorrow I’ll rearrange the honey frames on it using the checker boarding technique. It will be interesting to see if that works.

Hives stores are getting a little light now so time to add sugar candy. It is very simple to make. I used 10 or so pounds of sugar slowly mixed into 4 cups boiling water. Stir and heat to 234°F then let cool a bit. Pour the mixture into cookie sheets coated with cooking spray. Cool to room temperature then break into hand size pieces. Simply place a piece or two on top of the frames over the cluster. Use a shim or empty super if needed. It is also a good time to add a small amount of protein patty.

Today was good weather for a bee yard visit. Lots of bees flying so time for some general house keeping. I had a few four super hives so I removed the bottom super. Now all hives are three medium supers. I also took a quick look into the hives and found that they have used a good bit of the stores. I’ll start candy and pollen substitute feeding soon,  then move on to swarm control plans before Maple trees bloom. Got lots of frames and supers to clean and get ready for spring.

Today is a good day to complete the planning of what I want to do with my hives this Spring. The weekend has been too cold/windy to open hives so I took inventory of what equipment I have available. I found that I’m a little short for supers to complete my 2013 plan and have some  un-assembled frames available. I placed an order for enough supers so that I can assemble the frames and store them in these new supers. I was able to take advantage of free shipping (I’m in no hurry right now) and will have the equipment available when needed.