I am trying to be patient with the unpredictability of the central Georgia weather and forecast. Each year presents a new set of opportunities to learn and observe our bees during this liminal time between winter and spring. At this point last year in mid-February, we were already making splits. We were also seeing signs of drone brood - a visible sign that the hives has a healthy, functioning queen we can graft or a colony that we can split. It's been wet, and January was much colder than December. There are signs of some plants starting to bloom (like red maple, redbud, henbit, and even a few dandelions), but the main nectar flow is still 6 weeks out. We continue to feed 1:1 sugar water and supplement with pollen patties directly in the hives.
We have pre-sold all of our Over-Wintered Nucs, but still have Spring 5 Frame Nucleus Hives, Packages, and 2021 Queens available for pre-order on our website. With the current weather and temperatures, we are estimating that Packages will be available in early April and Spring Nucleus Hives and Queens in early May.
So.. which one should you purchase, the Package or Nucleus Hive?
It’s all about the resources and the queen. A three pound package is a box of bees and a newly introduced queen. These bees have much work to do when placed inside a new hive such as building comb, storing food, and encouraging the queen to lay eggs. There is no guarantee that this queen will be accepted by the package. This condition, referred to as an absconded queen, may not be detected until it’s too late. Replacing a queen is an additional expense plus they might not be available.
Alternatively, the 5 frame nucleus hive comes with drawn frames of comb filled with nectar, honey, pollen, a marked laying queen with various stages of brood, and a colony of bees that have coexisted since early spring. They are ready to utilize pollen and nectar resources to build up their colony and expand.
