Thanks to the Central Iowa Beekeepers Association, I had the opportunity to hear noted beekeeper and author Michael Bush present a day-long seminar in Grimes this past January. What a treasure trove of knowledge! He said he first became fascinated with bees more than 20 years ago, and has spent hours and hours watching them, researching them and learning about the, and he’s still learning.

He advised us to do the same, that is, watch your bees.

“You want to know your bees well enough to be able to predict what you’ll find in the hive,” Bush said. “Watch them fly. Where are they coming from? Where is the most activity? What are they doing? What signs are they giving you?”

I watch my bees plenty, but they usually leave me scratching my head in confusion.
Like the other day. One of my four hives was particularly busy. Both the upper and lower entrances had bees flying in and out like little squadrons. I had given them a winter patty a couple weeks ago, so I thought I would check to see if they needed replenishing.

To my surprise, the space where the winter party had been was now filled with burr comb (comb not built inside a frame). The white new comb was simply covered in bees. These industrious bees were busy filling it with honey and some of that comb, I learned later, had newly laid eggs in the bottom of the cells.

All in the first week of March! I had no idea where they were getting the nectar to make honey, why they would be building comb this time of year when they simply needed to survive the winter, and why the queen already was laying eggs. Definitely an unexpected state of affairs!

I called Linn, my veteran beekeeping friend, and he had no idea what could be encouraging this kind of activity. None of my bee books talked about it.

That’s the kind of surprises I get when I open my hives. I guess I will have to keep a close eye on this hive, just to make sure they have enough space and enough to eat, otherwise they could be swarming in April, a situation that no beekeeper wants to face.

I do love to watch my bees. And the one thing I have learned is that my bees are ALWAYS up to something new, and ALWAYS have something new to teach me!

🐝🐝

Michael Bush is the author of “The Practical  Beekeeper,” and his web site is loaded with lots of great information.