I hope you had your bees fed up, your insulation on and your treatments done because it just turned COLD! It’s been a bit of a shock. On the last day of November the temperatures suddenly dropped.
I personally was in pretty good shape but had actually been expecting to be able to keep feeding syrup. I think that’s done for the year. It’s fondant and dry sugar from here on out. We’ll see how they do.
One thing that has amazed me all year is how MUCH the bees forage for water. I guess I have never really gotten to observe them drinking in all these years. This year, having water barrels in the yard where I can watch them I have realized that they never stop foraging for water. It’s constant and proceeds whenever it’s warm enough to fly. This is one of my buckets on a cold day when the sun came out and warmed them up enough to forage.
We had a rare in person monthly meeting at St. James on 11/21 featuring a presentation by Austin Martin and an infinitely regressing president. That’s the smile of man who will not be in charge soon. Chris is smiling about the pepperoni Granny Pie from Founded Pizza. Good stuff. Our next meeting will be the Solstice Pot Luck on 12/21.
On December 8th, we’ll be participating in our final event of the year at Awbury Arboretum. Join us for an open house at the beautiful Cope House and purchase greens for decorating your home as well as gifts for the holiday season. More information here.
https://phillybeekeepers.org/ec_event/awbury-arboretum-holiday-open-house-and-greens-sale/
December 21st will be our annual solstice picnic held at The Farm at Awbury.
A few things to share have come across the transom recently:
- Respirator fit workshops by Penn State – if you’re applying heavy chemicals you should make sure your mask fits!
- Don’t forget to register for our 2025 classes.