Pollen Coming In – and Swarm Traps/Lures

1/30/2012

This last weekend was beautiful in north Texas. Friday, I saw a variety of pollen coming into the hive – including a nice bright yellow-orange color; some was a pale yellow-white in color; and other -(presumably henbit) was a blood-red. The henbit has been flowering for the last 2-3 weeks, now. Daytime temps have been averaging 65-73 Deg. F. Night-time temps are still in the high 30’s to high 40’s range (appx 38-48 deg. F).

Since the ladies were so active, I also gave them some sugar water spring stimulant. They drank 1 quart of it in 1 day. Here’s the recipe I used:
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Homebrew Spring Stimulating Feed (compare to Honey “B” Healthy)
Recipe was given via podcast by Don K (the FatBeeMan).

1 – Gallon – of 2:1 Sugar/Water Mixture

20-25 Drops – Wintergreen Essential Oil
15 Drops – Spearmint Essential Oil
5 Drops – Lemongrass Essential Oil

Blend oils (in a blender) about 5 minutes into about 1.5 cups of Sugar Water to emulsify it, and add to 1 gallon of 2:1 mix.
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I also placed (2) of my 15 swarm lure/traps in East Texas. The scent I used was straight lemongrass essential oil. I put 4-5 drops of the oil onto a cotton-ball, placed the cotton ball into a SMALL ziplock baggie, and closed the baggie about 90%, then set it into the swarm trap box, along with 5 empty frames. Crossing my fingers that this works!