About a week ago, during the few warm spring days, I noticed drones flying...really big drones, larger than I remember them being last year. From that I surmise that 1) brood is hatching for spring build-up and 2) drones are larger because bees are making cells the size they wish for different populations...a good thing.
Drones take 24 days from egg to bee and spend six days in the hive before flying; workers take 21 days from egg to bee and spend 21 days inside hive before going out to forage. According to those numbers, we should see quite a few bees on orientation flights some time between April 16 and Arpil 20. Exciting to have gone one year from installing the package and beginning the cycle once again. I believe it is safe to say the hive made it through the winter successfully. Although the plan was to dismantle the hive when weather warmed, I am less inclined to do that now that I know that even a minor drop in temperature adversely affects the brood. We shall see...
No comments:
Post a Comment