“Pollen!” By Annie Watson

The bees were busy in the warm weather yesterday. The workers came back to the hive looking like they’d spent some time in a bakery — all dusted with very light tan pollen. It could be red maple, or maybe elm — I’m not sure. Red maples bloom around this time. Now, on warm days, the bees can feed their young, and the more food that’s available the more numerous and stronger the colony will be come summer. Nectar and pollen producing plants promote brood rearing and wax production — both important to the “spring buildup” of the colony.

We love these warm days when the sun is shining and the bees are overjoyed to be out after the long winter cooped up in the hive.  It’s so live affirming to see them bringing food back to the hive.  I was blessed by one bee visiting my hand before she delivered her load.  Note the blob of pollen basket on her back leg.

For more about pollen plants, check out this slide show from the Northeast Kansas Beekeepers’ Association.

Winter shifts into spring with the Spring Equinox on March 20, and with the change comes contrasts in weather. One day it’s 45 degrees and the pussy willows are blooming; the next morning everything is covered with 6 inches of snow. On warm days the bees are flying, looking for the first pollen to feed the brood that they are already tending. On snowy cold days, there is no sign of live outside the hive. This can be a dangerous time for the bees as they run out of winter food, so we watch closely and add another super of honey to the hive if need be, hoping spring will arrive soon.

Annie Watson

Pussy Willow photo credit: David Hawgood, Creative Commons License
Snow photo credit: Ann D. Watson @ 2013

From the cover of an old scrapbook, found at justsomethingimade.com

In the old days in many parts of England and Scotland, it was said that honeybees hummed in their hives exactly at midnight on Christmas eve — some even said they sang a Christmas hymn. This belief also existed in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany. (See The Sacred Bee: in Ancient Times and Folklore. Hilda M. Ransome. Dover Publications, 2004.) It may have originally been associated with the Winter Solstice.

Perhaps you would like to go out at midnight on either the Solstice — which occurs this year on Friday, December 21, at 6:12 a.m. EST — or, on Christmas Eve… you choose! And put your ear to the hive to see if the bees are singing!

Warm wishes for a sweet holiday season and a Happy New Year.

Annie Watson