The annual cold weather is upon us, and some of us have been itching to see inside the hives to ensure your bees are doing well. A laudable motive, but this is the time to have faith – and keep your fingers outta the hives!! You won’t see any activity at the hive entrance, and it’s normal to see some dead bees there, but if you open the hives with the ambient temperature near zero you’ll be sealing their fate. If you’re really anxious, rap on the side of the brood box and put your ear – or a stethoscope – against the side and listen for that reassuring hum. If you have insulation around the hive that’s a bit of a damper, but there’s another way – give the hive a dose of oxalic acid vapour. Without brood, this is an ideal time to treat and the oxalic acid will certainly get them humming. But above all – stay OUT! When the temps come back up, get yourself organized and quickly open, check if there is still honey or sugar cake/fondant (have some already made up and ready at hand), swap out the quilt box, and quickly get out.
Ps. There is a way to see inside the hive without opening it up fully. If you want to know, come to the next meeting at:
Thursday, February 13th, Central Saanich Senior’s Centre, 1229 Clarke Rd, Brentwood Bay
- 6:30: Beginner’s Corner – Introduction to Beekeeping with Don L
- 6:30: Intermediate’s Corner – TBD with Bill H
- 7:00 Main meeting: Installing bees, packages and nucs
- 8:00ish: Cookies and chat time, network with other beekeepers
Elections
Our club’s Annual General Meeting is going to be next month, March 13th, and there are some positions coming up for election. Please think about serving! It’s fun, you get to hear about lots of stuff, and you get to have your opinions heard! And if you are interested in any of these positions, please let me know!
Positions coming up:
- President: Bill Cavers (willing to stay on)
- 2nd Vice-President: Cathy Totten (wishes to step aside, but willing to stay on)
- Membership Secretary: Mary Quayle (willing to stay on)
- Treasurer: Heather Welsford (definitely stepping down, need replacement)
- Swarm Line Coordinator: Laure Newnham (wishing to step aside)
Sterigenics
Our annual Sterigenics trip will be occurring this month. There have already been emails about this, but if you missed the deadline and you have a small volume – repeat SMALL volume – you would like to send, reach out to our club coordinator at sterigenics@capitalregionbeekeepers.ca WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
Outyards
There will be a work party in later April/early May to prepare our new outyard; a separate call for interested parties will be sent out a couple of weeks before. Remember, work party participants are given priority in taking hives to the outyards; if there are more volunteers than needed, spots will be drawn. Also note that there will be definite care requirements for people with hives in the outyards; these will be itemized in our Outyard Policy document that each participant will need to sign. This document is also available on our club website at capitalregionbeekeepers.ca.
Bee packages
Bee packages can be ordered through Pat Peach of Cowichan Bee Supplies, cowichan-bees.com
- 1 kg packages will be arriving March 15th
- 1.5 kg packages will be arriving March 29th
But if you’re wanting some, order them SOON. Note: You need drawn comb for packages, so if you are a new beekeeper with new equipment these are not for you, wait for nucs which are usually ready mid-May to early June depending on weather.
Happy Beekeeping!