March 16th: Feeding the Bees

March is the starving month for bees. There's no nectar yet and the queen is laying the Spring brood so the need for food is up. We fed our five active hives sugar syrup on Friday, March 16 when it got above 50 degrees. Since then it's been pretty cold so we are waiting for a 60+ degree, calm, sunny day to do a full inspection.

We also took down the hive that collapsed last fall. It had two boxes of capped and uncapped honey, 18 frames which we'll use to feed the bees when we split hives in April.

When I took the frames out of the bottom box I found the small cluster of bees who remained in the hive and couldn't survive the winter. They were huddled in a corner. There was plenty of food in the hive, but there weren't enough bees to keep warm. I showed the bees to the grandchildren and we all agreed it was sad.

They are wonderful little creatures of God. Isn't it tragic that in our crazy culture people are more likely to lament the loss of this little cluster of a few hundred bees than the 1500 babies ripped apart every day in surgical abortions?

We live in sad times. All you saints and angels, pray for our return to sanity!