Dec 30, 2008 - 4:30 pm

Checked on the hive today.

Even though it was late in the day and cooling off quickly I still checked the feeder jar.

The bees only consumed a 1/4 of the full jar since 28 Dec.

Since the temperature was so low there were not any bees to be seen.

The "north" side of the hive has some mildew. I guess I will have to touch it up with some Killz paint very soon.

Dec 28, 2008 - 10:30 am

Its been eight days since I visited the hive.

I replaced the jar of sugar water with a fresh jar. I will check back in 3 days, weather permitting, to see how quickly the bees consume the food. The mixture is 1:1, water to sugar.

With the temperatures in the mid seventies, the bees were very active today.

I didn't see any signs of ants so I didn't put down any insecticide.

I decided to take photos and a couple of movies.

Dec 20, 2008 - 3 PM

Last visit to the hive was 27 Nov.

Today I put down insecticide with a watering can.

Opened up the hive and removed four frames from the top brood box. The bees seemed okay to me. The bees were very active in the hive as well as around it. I did not see any signs of hive beetle or wax moth or ants. Again I only looked through the four frames of the top brood box.

Closed up the hive and put a quart jar of 1:1 sugar water in the feeder slot.

At the front of the hive there was a lot of activity. I saw bees bringing in a lot of pollen. I did take some photos but they didn't turn out too well.