When I set up my two honey bee hives in early May of this year I did not expect to be posting about them on December 30th. The fall and early days of winter here at OOHF have been mild with many sunny days reaching the mid-40s to low 50s. Because it has been so mild, the honey bees have continued to be active, albeit not every day - mostly the days that are sunny and not until the air temperature reaches at least 48 degrees F. Back a few months ago I noticed that the bees were swarming my chicken feed and decided to start feeding them pollen substitute. Turns out they love it so I started keeping a couple of shallow coffee can lids full under the well house porch so they can collect it when they want (weather permitting). Today is a beautiful sunny day with an air temperature of about 52 degrees F and the bees are all over the pollen. In fact, they cleaned out what I set out for them an I had to refill the containers. It is fascinating to watch them collect the pollen and fly clumsily back to the hives with the pollen balls attached to their back legs. I'll continue to put pollen out for the bees on nice days, which will hopefully ensure they survive the winter and emerge strong in the early spring. Before early spring I plan to build a small open structure with a roof fairly close to the bee yard (and in full sun) so I can continue to feed them year round. The location where I am feeding them now is adjacent and close to where we park our vehicles and I have been told by visitors that it is quite intimidating seeing all those bees at close range and having them flying all around you. They don't bother me as I stand amongst them. In fact, when feeding them pollen, they often land on me and continue to "roll" the pollen in a ball and attach it to their leg for their journey to the hive. Looking at the extended weather outlook though, it looks like typical winter weather will be settling in after the New Year and the bees with ball up in their hive waiting for the next warm day!
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