submitted by greena@augsburg.edu
Did you know Augsburg is a Beez Kneez Urban Apiary Partner? We host honeybee hives on campus that are cared for by our neighbors, The Beez Kneez, over in Seward. Here’s the latest report we received about our bees:
“We experienced higher than usual colony loss last winter forcing us to replace many hives in the spring of 2018. There were several compounding factors that are to blame including a long, harsh and persistent winter (remember that foot of snow and super cold temps in mid-April), a new virus which set many of the new colonies back and weird weather in the middle of the summer. The bees seemed to use all the spring and early summer nectar to heal themselves from the virus and then when the summer flowers were supposed to provide, we experienced cold and rainy weather in the first week of July. A perfect storm of problems. I talked to many beekeepers in the state that experienced similar problems.
Your hives were alive and ready for winter in early November. Bees can endure this cold but temperature swings can be hard on them and that really warm weather we had in January can cause them to eat more than they should. We will be checking on them and their food stores as soon as it gets above freezing again. Hopefully, spring comes a little early this year. It is an el nino year which is more mild than usual. I am hopeful. We will give you an update on their status.”
THE BEEZ KNEEZ ADVOCATES REVIVING THE HIVE FOR HEALTHY BEES,
HEALTHY LIVES BY ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING HIVES IN THE TWIN
CITIES, DELIVERING HONEY BY BICYCLE, PRACTICING SUSTAINABLE
BEEKEEPING PRACTICES AND SERVING LOCAL BEEKEEPERS THROUGH THE
BEEZ KNEEZ HONEY HOUSE AND CAMP BEEZ KNEEZ.