The weather has been pretty marginal for bees this past week. Generally, bees need weather above 55 degrees Fahrenheit to mobilize their workforce, though many colonies will venture out at temperatures down into the high 40s. Our girls seem to be willing to fly when temperatures are in the low 50s down to the upper 40s if it is sunny with no wind.
Weather was cool today. This prevented most inspection work and limited time for all activities to a couple of minutes. We had the covers off to check on the fondant that was left last week for them and they had eaten it all. It was too cold to pull any frames but a quick top down look suggested that both queens had laid in at least some of the drawn comb we left for her. To keep her busy, we added a medium box with 5 drawn frames on each hive. This should solve any congestion problems for the next few weeks. We will pull the follower boards and replace them with foundation at the next inspection that weather permits. We also put on jar feeders (1 gallon of 2:1 sugar syrup) to replace the fondant. It is supposed to remain cool and damp so we checked the hive level to make sure that they remained tipped slightly forward to help expel any moisture.
Here is a photo of the reconfigured hives with the medium boxes
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