The chicks are growing fast and have lots of feathers now. Pretty sure we have a boy and a girl.
Author: Cheryl
So far so good!
The chicks are doing great and growing up so fast. I think I have a boy and a girl.
First time using this 5-pack seed starter kit from Amazon. It has LED lighting and different timing modes. After recording this video, I figured out how to set the timer to 12-hour increments. With 3 mode cycle timer settings – hold for 3/9/12 hours and automatically turn on and off at the same time the next day without having to unplug or reinsert.
https://amzn.to/3n5ccDH
(Amazon Affiliate Link)
They already have their wing and shoulder feathers in.
The third egg did not survive because there were twins in there. It’s very rare for twins to emerge healthy. The other two are doing great!
All of the eggs have activity inside. Can’t wait to meet the new chicks next month!
There eggs are a few days into incubation and you can see the embryo veins. I can’t wait to meet these chicks!
Sad to report that this hive did not survive the winter. It’s my first hive and I made some rookie mistakes with it. I originally ordered a NUC but with the delays last year, I opted for a package of Italian bees instead. I used the included foundationless frames that I had. Not long after the queen was released from her cage, she went missing. The bees reared up another queen but never recovered from that population hit. Local hornets bullied them. Despite all this, I was still able to harvest a few jars of honey in the fall. After this colony’s collapse I was able to get another 10 jars of honey, so they didn’t starve. The hive was treated for varroa in the fall and wrapped in the winter. My guess is that the hive numbers were too few to keep is adequately warm in sub-zero temps.