Final Submission by Christian Wood

     My bees are strong and doing well. They have gotten so big and full that they almosed swarmed and I had to add a couple of honey supers on. My dad and my brother caught a swarm from our neighbor who didn't want it, so now all together we have four hives one of which is struggling to keep itself allive. my bees are the stronges of our four hives, and are doing very well. A couple of days ago I put on another honey super, and discoverd a colony of ants living in the hive, but they were only above the inner cover. The bees were still fine and I shook off all the ants on the ground. Thank you very much for the bees and equipment, I have enjoyed learning a lot about bees.    

Submitted by Christian in Q1    

     I have been checking on my bees frequently and have given them sugar water several times. I haven’t wanted to open them up a whole lot, and I also have a pollen patty ready to put on when spring “finally comes!” The bees are doing very well and will have a strong start in the SPRING.

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Christian Wood

Submitted by Christian in Q3

     So far I have learned very much about bees, yet still have a lot left to learn. I have learned how to put sugar water on by adding a special box that is about an inch taller than a normal deep super, so that a gallon jar can fit inside. I also use a special board with a hole in the middle and two holes on the outside with small pieces of screen on them. Then I mix up a gallon of sugar in a jar with water and punch tiny holes in the lid. Next I put the jar on the hole in the board which rests on top of the rest of the hive, and put the special super on top. The lid is fitted on and the process is done. I repeated this three times throughout the year. There is a gap in the back of the hive that I have temporarily fixed with duct tape. I also have a pollen patty sitting in my freezer for the spring. It will give them a boost before there is pollen available for them to collect on their own. Over all, my bees are doing well but I still have a lot left to learn about bees.

Submitted by Christian in Q2

     Over the past year I have learned so much in the way of bees, from building the frames and putting the wax in, to building the boxes and painting them. I painted all but one of the boxes white with yellow around the sides and in the handles and painted the base and top lid yellow. I have never seen the queen but I can tell that she is alive because of all of the brood. My bees have been doing very well over the past few months and are the strongest hive out of our four hives. We have added two or three honey supers in the mix and it is looking like we are going to need to add more, we might even get honey off of it this year! It has done very well through the winter and is still growing. I find it to be very amazing how fast they have gone through the sugar water, I have changed it at least four times throughout the winter and they have entered the life of spring with a strong start. My bees are doing very well and I am very thankful to have been given this opportunity.