As we all wait for spring to finally arrive, there will be a few procedural changes that will be in place because of the Coronavirus.
The Apiary Inspector will be doing more work through videos and photos and phone conversations than in prior seasons, which eliminates all possible coronavirus contact. When inspections occur, the hive owner will not be allowed to accompany the inspector during the inspection. The Inspector will use all of their own equipment and call ahead of time so they won’t have to knock on the door. As always, all those apiaries that need a Queen Certificate of Health to sell queens or nucleus hives (nucs) will be inspected first. New beekeepers and inspection requests are next.
Package bees, as well as nucleus hives, will be arriving a couple of weeks later than normal, but in plenty of time to pollinate the county. As of last week, a much better winter survival rate was expected because of the warm winter, but this a dangerous time for bees. They have started to raise new bees to replace the ones that wintered, so the brood chamber temperatures must be kept at 93 degrees. The normal temperature of a cluster in winter is 62 degrees. Much honey is consumed to generate that much heat and to feed larvae, so the bees eat up all of their stores and starve to death when we get weeks of below-average cold.
The Lake County Apiary Inspector, Jim Davis, will ensure our county has healthy colonies and confident beekeepers.