The program will be hiving a feral colony. RIBA members Bob Briggs and Mark Robar travel to Scotland, Conn. to hive a colony that has survived for the past 10 years in a hollow maple tree. The tree blew down in the early April storm.

Directions:

Take I-95 North or South to Wyoming / Richmond, exit 3A (Rt. 138E toward S. Kingstown)

Merge onto Rt. 138 / Kingstown Rd.

Travel approximately a mile past I-95, past several commercial lots

Meadowbrook Gardens will be on your right

Please remember to bring chairs.

By now packages have been delivered to those that ordered packages and others that ordered nucleus colonies are patiently waiting their arrival. A question frequently asked by those picking up their bees is how long and what to feed. Spring sugar water mix should be a one to one mix, and keep feed on these bees until the don't take it. If you are not a beginner beekeeper you may find it handy to go to your over-wintered colony a remove a frame of honey to boost your hived packages. (Remember you have REMOVABLE FRAMES.)

Package queens are mass-produced and sometimes are not well mated, this may cause supercedure, this could set your hive population or colony build up back. You can let nature take it's course and let the colony raise their new queen, or you obtain a new proven queen to help keep the population growth without any setbacks. If you decide to re-queen with a proven queen, and have an over- wintered colony this is your chance to make an increase from your own stocks. Take the supercedure cell and a couple of frames of nurse bees and brood from your existing or over-wintered move them to a nuc box or standard equipment with a follower board. With this being done you have accomplished four goals in your apiary management program. 1 have helped to keep your population of package on the rise, 2 you have increased you apiary with your own stocks, 3 you have prevented a swarm by managing the population in your over-wintered  colony, and 4 you have rotated frames out of your existing colony and replaced them with foundation.

The next step is get ready for the honey flow. Do you have your supers ready? For seasoned beekeepers you may choose to use a queen excluder below your honey supers with drawn comb. If you are a New Bee this practice is not recommended when using foundation. Making a surplus of honey is not always easy the first year of beekeeping but sometimes accomplished when everything comes together. Don't be intimidated by those that have more beekeeping experience. In the fall RIBA hosts a fall festival that includes a honey judging contest and other activities, and blue ribbons have gone to many beginner beekeepers. So, set your goals early and follow a hive management program custom fit for your region, remembering that making honey is somewhat like the real-estate business, that is location, location, location, and whether, weather, and whether. That is whether or not you dedicate the time to your apiary, if the weather cooperates, and whether you take part in RIBA.

Hope we see you at the next RIBA meeting ! Until then GOOD BEEKEEPING.

Mark Robar