The Hive in Late Winter

Warm days in late winter afford an opportunity to make the first in-depth examination of the bee hives. As we approach the vernal equinox and the changing of seasons, we find strong colonies expanding rapidly. Colonies with a productive queen have large, circular patches of brood on numerous frames. As soon as the pupae emerge as adults, workers immediately clean their cells and prepare them for reused in producing more brood. Drones are walking about the surface of combs of some of the hives, an indication that the bees are preparing for raising new queens. With our hives comprised of three medium-size hive bodies, we typically find that the brood nest now occupies the top two boxes. The lowest hive box is usually empty of bees, brood, and honey; the bees having moved upward during the winter. We can now move this empty box of frames of drawn comb to the top of the brood nest. This move makes available more empty cells for the queen to use for colony build-up, and rearranging the brood nest stimulates the colony to build up an even greater population for nectar gathering and honey production. With erratic weather in March, it is important to avoid separating areas of brood production when rearranging the hive. A cold night will often lead to the bees’ covering one brood area and leaving another to chill and die. It is also important when making rearrangements inside the hive at this time of the year to avoid separating the brood from the stored honey. We can even help the bees survive the next few critical weeks of uncertain weather by moving frames of honey and pollen close to the brood nest.

Click on today’s photo to see a honey bee foraging for dead nettle pollen. To access this wildflower of the mint family, the forager must learn to place its head under the flower petals that form a hood protecting the flower, an uncomfortable task for the bee.

--Richard

Dead Nettle in Bloom

Lawns and open fields are covered with a low plant with pale purple flowers. This is dead nettle, a member of the important family of bee plants, the mints. Dead nettle is often found growing in the same fields with its close relative, henbit. Dead nettle has rows of pointed leafs; henbit has a rounded, curly leaf. Henbit has a similar flower with a darker purple color. They can easily be recognized as mints by their square stems. While many of the mints can be identified by distinct aromatic odors when their leaves are crushed, dead nettle merely smells of hay or rich forest soil. Dead nettle is a cool season plant that will disappear with hot weather. If lawns are not sprayed with herbicides, the dead nettles serve as a good source of nectar for honey bee colonies starting their spring build-up. If you click on today’s picture, you can see a tiny solitary bee foraging dead nettle.

I got a message today from an Arkansas beekeeper who discovered that she lost the queen for one of her colonies. It is fortunate that she has more than one colony to work with, because honey bees are not producing queens and drones in this region now. The colonies will be producing both in a few weeks, though. I found the first drone brood today that I have seen this year. Drones emerge as adults in 24 days, but they are not sexually-mature for about another 20 days. This beekeeper may need to combine her queen-less colony with a queen-right colony to protect the honeycomb until the bees are ready to produce queens and drones. If she lets the colony collapse from lack of a queen, hive scavengers will likely destroy the combs. Small Hive Beetles and wax moths eat the combs and contents of abandoned hives. Once the bees start producing queens and drones in a few weeks, she can divide her hive into two colonies.
--Richard

The Mint Family

With the cool fall weather there are areas where the ground is covered with a number of species of mints. The mint family, Labiatae, is an important family of bee plants; and some of the mints are highly favored by the honey bees. The mints are mostly strongly aromatic herbs which can be identified by their square stems. Rubbing the leaves between the fingers releases the fragrance of the plants. Today’s photo shows henbit in bloom in the early spring. Henbit will be one of the year’s first plants covering the ground which will bring a sizable flow of nectar to the bee hive.

Many of the mints are of economic importance as ornamental plants, culinary herbs, and as sources of aromatic oils used in perfumes and other fragrances. The mints make excellent candidates for plants to be grown in pollinator gardens. Many can be found in culinary herb gardens at the kitchen door. Sage and thyme are quite drought hearty and can be grown in planter boxes or upturned concrete blocks. Spearmint is quite tolerant of wet soils and can be grown in either sunny or shady areas. Some common members of the mint family are spearmint, peppermint, sage, thyme, lavender, and the colorful coleus. Purple dead nettle is a close relative of henbit. The two plants are often found together covering lawns in the early spring. Other members of the mint family include motherwort, bee balm, or wild bergamot, horsemint, false dragonhead, or obedient plant, self-heal, or heal-all, and mountain mint. Other mints are the blue sage, cancer weed, or lyre-leaved sage, calamint, hairy skullcap, wood sage, or germander, forked blue curls, lemon balm, and catnip. Many of the mints make enjoyable flavorings for foods, and many are excellent sources of nectar and pollen for honey bees.
--Richard