We checked the hives this weekend after a long wet winter. Our best performing hive, the yellow one, has been showing signs of decline, so we needed to get in there and see what was going on. We invited our beekeeper friend, Shane, to help.
It turns out that the yellow hive has a high mite count. So we are treating it and hoping for the best. It might be too compromised to survive the treatment but it won't survive without it. We were happy to at least see the queen in the hive - so with that - there is hope.
The two white hives look strong and healthy, although we did treat them for mites too. It is likely that one of those will need to be split in the spring, so if the yellow hive does not survive, we will have that box to use.
All in all, we are happy that we have two strong hives coming out of the winter. It is the first time we have been able to maintain a hive over the winter.
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