KBBA 
Bulletin

Happy New Year to all! Well our bees are safely tucked in for the remaining winter and while we are just beginning our hibernation, our bees are likely already gearing up for spring. Conventional wisdom says the queens start slowly ramping up their egg laying at the winter solstice. This means that in addition to keeping the queen warm, the winter bees are already tending to larvae and feeding them bee bread made from last year's stored pollen and honey. It looks like the next couple of weeks will be wintry indeed, but if we get a warmish day, pop the top to see if the girls have some emergency stores, just in case. What does that look like? It may be as simple as laying a piece of newspaper over the top of the frames and piling drivert sugar on it. That is the mountain camp method. You can make up fondant or candy boards, or purchase ready made fondant. This time of year, all of their supplemental feeding needs to be DRY! It's much too cold to put anything liquid in the hive.