It’s been bitterly cold in Michigan. The big blizzard has gone through and has left us with a bunch of snow.
But the forecast is looking good. They are saying it will get up into the upper 30’s this Sunday. When it gets up above freezing during the day the sap starts flowing in the sugar maples. It’s almost time to start tending the sugar bush.
My sugar bush planning is sadly lacking this year. I’ve been spending all of my pondering time on honeybees.
I’ve got good news! My outyard funding project has been successful, and it’s well over the goal I set! Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed!
So I’ve been pouring over bee supply websites and looking for the best deals I can find on all the items I’ll need for the project. I’ve been tallying all of the costs for the rewards that are built into the Kickstarter system too.
In a few weeks the ordering can begin. Then I’ll be spending all of my time looking out the window for the delivery trucks.
I’ve decided to buy Langstroth hives for the outyard. They are the type of hive most people are familiar with. I’ll be building some up for honey production, but most will be for my breeding project.
I’ll need to get a decent amount of honey put up. I don’t want to feed my bees sugar, so a supply will be kept in reserve.
I’m also trying to figure out the best way to mount a couple of cameras inside some hives. Bees don’t see in infrared so I’m going to get a couple inexpensive web cams with infrared lights to record the inner workings of the hives. The trick will be keeping the bees from cementing them over with honeycomb and propolis.
At least I know I’ll be keeping as busy as a bee this spring.