I went over and helped my neighbor check his hives. He bought two hives from me last year and is still learning the ropes. He had one hive that struggle getting going and I think the original queen wasn't mated very well. We found two queens in the hive and I think the hive created a new queen because they weren't happy with the original queen. We split the hive up and watched to see which queen was the most prodcutive. We found out which one it was and combined the hive back together again. It was interesting because the original queen didn't really lay eggs once we split the queens up. She started well, but then I think she just stopped. My theory is she wasn't mated well and decided to stop laying. Once we combined the hives, it was still pretty far behind and really didn't get a chance to build up much before winter. I didn't have much hope for this hive. His other hive has been strong from day one. He called me and said I think both hives made it through the winter, can you come and see what you think. I went over and sure enough both hives were flying and active as could be. They loved the sunny day yesterday. We opened up the week hive and it had a few frames with bees. The hive was pretty light so we put a pollen patty on it and he was going to start feeding it. The strong hive is very strong. The whole top box had bees and it was very active. The hive is very heavy with honey and so we put pollen patties on it and closed it up. It was so good to see a little success.
These two hives were on the South side of his house and received the reflection of the sun off the siding. I think it helped keep it warmer. These hives also had really good ventilation. I am convinced that one of the main problems with my hives this year was a lack of ventilation and a lack of sun exposure. I wish I would have taken pictures. It was so nice to see active hives again.
Happy Beekeeping
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