LATE MARCH
HIVE 1
Cool day. Clear skies. No wind.
About a week after the previous cursory inspection, the exterior of the hive was inactive. I had a very bad feeling.
I opened the hive and it was a ghost town.
Upon investigation, it was apparent there were no bees. Not one. They left.
Were they dead? Did they abscond?
I took a quick look at the bottom board and expected to see a lot of dead bees. There were hardly any--nothing more than I would have expected if the colony was in prime condition.
To review a few reasons bees may abscond, check the link: Beekeeping for Dummies-Absconding
I didn't have the heart to take pictures or inspect further. I closed up the hive and decided to try to regroup.
I was pretty sad and frustrated.
I felt like a massive apiary failure.
I. Failed. Bees.
I told my husband I wouldn't sink another penny into the bees. I told him that maybe I wasn't meant to be a beekeeper.
I reminded him that perhaps I was not qualified to care for anything. I reminded him of the Lucky Bamboo plant that was in my care--well it was not so lucky, and I managed to kill it in no short order.
He encouraged me and reminded me of the crazy fluctuating temperature we had in the area recently. It had been freezing, then very warm, then freezing again. And it all came rather quickly.
Was that the problem? Or was it something I could have prevented?
That was a puzzle for another day. At this point, I just needed to step away.
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