Sorry it has been a while since my last update. I have been trying to update my Facebook page more often. A big challenge this year is getting my new queens to return from mating flights or to return mated. This is happening in both of my bee yards. I have 3 colonies that are just full of drones (male bees) because the queen is unable to fertilize eggs and create my female workers. I am trying one more time to correct this, if unsuccessful, I will combine colonies to help make it through the winter.
Some better news. I did have a strong honey flow despite the flooding in McCook Lake Izaak Walton League. I am hoping to do some extracting in the next week. Now I just have to create new labels for South Dakota. I couldn’t be happier with the amount of pollen I am seeing from the wildflower plot. I might have to do some pollen trapping next year.
Final update – mites. My counts have been low, but I was not able to check McCook Lake IWL for over a month. This will be the focus of my next my visit. It is difficult as there is still standing water, and I am using a four-wheeler limiting the amount of equipment I can take. With the queen issues I have been having, it is breaking the cycle of the mites making it difficult to compare previous years. I also use drone trapping to assist with removing mites without chemicals. I will keep it short and end here.