Empire Perennials, Apiary and Icelandic chickens

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All three hives were out!

January 30, 2016

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It was 62 °F and clear. Very happy to see all three hives were very active. They even found the container of syrup that I had set out before winter started.

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Switched out candy boards

Since the weather was fairly warm, 60.1 °F, breezy, I decided to add new candy boards. Only replaced the ones in hives #1 and #2. #3 had not used as much as the others. Made new candy boards a few days ago. What was left of the candy board out of hive #1. This was a left over candy board from last year that had a lot left on it from last year. Candy board from hive #2. Another board that was left over from last year. They had eaten a lot of it. Saw a lot of honey still left on the comb next to the candy

Nosema observations

This past year, the Bedford Indiana beekeepers club bought a good microscope with the hopes of being able to help area beekeepers diagnose hives with Nosema infection. A fellow beekeeper and I presented a demonstration at our annual Bee Intensive on how to prepare a sample to look for Nosema. Since the bees used came from a hive with very little to no infection, we were unable to find any spores. On Aug. 24th, I noticed that one of my hives had they typical "spotting" on the hive for Nosema infection. I was delighted, but also dismayed, but now I had a hive that was infected. Due to the weather, etc., I was not able to inspect the hive until Sept. 4th. By then, the spotting was worse. I took a sample of bees and brought them into the lab that I work in. I pulled 4 gut samples and pulverized them in sterile water. I then made several slides. I was able to maybe find a few spores, but will so much other debris, they were hard to find....

Plant labels

Lost many plant labels during a hard rain. Many other types of labels do not hold up to the weather, so I bought a Brother's P-touch labeler. The labels are a laminated tape process protects that protects from harmful UV rays, scrapes, abrasions and even spills from water, and oil.

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