Questions for Michigan Beekeepers ?

[harvey]

Hello all,
   Currently just have one hive.  Swarm from last year.  Today at 47  degrees there are a few bees walking around on the landing board.  Yesterday at 46 degrees bees were flying everywere but most didn't come back.  All kinds of yellow on the snow.  I found some bees 75 yards from the hive froze to death.
   There is still some honey in the hive.  Not a lot but a few frames at least from looking down into the top deep.  For all the dead bees I see there are still quite a few in the hive. 
   This year I am going to start two more hives from packages.  I have all the woodenware ready.

   When should I start feeding for spring buildup?
   When would be a good time to do a split?  or should I at all?   The bees wintered in two deeps.
    What should I feed in the spring?  sugar water or pollen patties?

   When would be a good time to try and catch another swarm?  I would like to put out a couple swarm traps about a mile away. and maybe one near my hive as that is where the swarm landed last year from who knows where.  The closest bee hives are a mile away from my property and there are only six there.  I don't know who owns them someone who drives to the farm to check on them.

  Any other info for spring in michigan?  I am planting clover, buckwheat and sourgum this spring oh and alf-alfa for the deer.

[Scadsobees]

Hi Harvey!
The good news is that the yellow in the snow indicates that most of the bees got back.  That is from their bathroom runs.  A small percentage do get stuck in the snow.  Even though that small percentage is a lot.

Spring...we're still pretty early.  The maples are close to blooming, probably by week's end.

I don't feed in the spring unless they are low on food.  Sounds like yours are doing ok yet.  If you do want to feed, I think now is the time to start, both syrup and pollen.

Depending on how strong your hive is and if you are providing a queen....usually not something you will think about till the dandelions show up, about a month or so, at the earliest  If they are really strong and you have an extra queen you can do it earlier, but the drones won't start flying till then or a couple weeks after, so if you are doing a walk-away split (letting them raise a queen) that is when you'd need to do it.

As to dates and whens, pay attention to what the main flowers are blooming and when.  Bee events correlate roughly to the plant events, and since on a forum like this so many climates are represented, the plant and flower events are ways to relate to what other people are doing with their bees.  I try to track what is blooming when, as well as taking a lot of pictures of blooms that I can go back and check on periodically if I have questions.

The bees start swarming early may, but mostly from mid may to mid june around here.  Have your traps up by May and you'll be ok.

Rick

[harvey]

Thanks Rick,
    I am going to try and go from the one hive to five.  I have two packages coming and I would like to catch two swarms if possible.  Never saw a swarm up close till last year.  They landed in my plum tree.  I have picked out four locations that I would like to try swarm traps.  One by my plum tree.  The other three locations are all next to an old woods.  I went walking today to see if I could find any yellow snow in these areas of the woods but I didn't find any.  I have seen bees in these areas though and all three areas grow a lot of wild rasberry.  If I end up getting lucky and get more than two swarms?  I have a friend that wants to get started in bee keeping and he said he would take them.   I Have two deep boxes to use and am going to make two more.  Figure I will put two drawn frames in each and then fill the boxes with frames for foundationless.  Then a little lemon grass oil?  Or maybe yet I will buy a couple of them swarm lures and use them in two of the boxes.  Not sure what I will do with honey from five hives but I am sure it would make good christmas gifts!  Seems I am the only one in my family that likes honey.  I also want to keep the ole timer that talked me into housing the swarm last year in honey.  He gave me a four frame extractor and a hot knife for a quart of honey and twenty bucks.  Figure as long as I have bees he will get a couple quarts at least a year.