12/01/2026
Saturday was in the low 40s and a good opportunity to quickly check bees. They were taking cleansing flights, so they’d broken the cluster up a bit and could handle having the hive jostled. I lift up the corners a bit to judge the weight of the hives. It’s not as scientific as a fancy hive scale, but serves pretty well.
There were a couple of colonies I felt were perhaps a bit too easy to rock. These went into winter with big populations and may have burned through stores after the frost but while it was still frequently warm enough to attempt foraging. I slipped in some emergency food in case they need it. Now we wait for the next warm spell. We are entering the new year at 100%, and they look strong. I tend to miss them quite a bit, and it was calming to see them flying. They have large populations, they look healthy, and morale seems high.
It became cloudy pretty quickly, and they tucked themselves back in before I remembered to take inspiring video of all that swirling activity. I know- how could I forget? It’s kind of my one winter job. Only- they’ve never heard the Teams jingle. They don’t watch the news. It’s easier than you think to just stand there and watch them do their thing, and forget to take notes.
