We're Gonna Need a Bigger Feeder!

At this Flow Hive Check, we wanted to check to see that the introduced queen of the split hive was laying well, find her and mark her with a yellow dot (for 2022), add a third deep box to the split, apply robbing screens to the entrances of both hives, and add 2-gallon top feeders of sugar syrup to get the bees to draw out wax on foundation frames in the hives.

I'm glad to report success on all fronts except that we only applied one robbing screen to the original hive and left in the entrance reducer of the split hive. Everything is looking great as we fatten up the hives and prepare for winter.

Our next check will be: Saturday, August 27th, 2022 at 10am in the A2B2 teaching apiary in the Campus Farms area of Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

Plan:
1. Checking top feeders to see if bees are taking syrup.
2. Check frames to see if bees have been drawing out comb.
3. Mite test (alcohol wash) to make sure we have strong bees going into winter and report to the BIP August Mite-a-Thon! (https://beeinformed.org/2022/05/06/join-the-2022-mite-a-thon/)
4. If mite counts are above threshold, we will have to wait until the weather will be below 85 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 days (Wednesday) to treat with FormicPro strips.

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If you would like to join the A2B2 Flow Hive Team or would like to know more about the Flow Hive in general, please contact Jen Haeger at mentorship@a2b2club.org.