3-10-2013 First Hive check of 2013

Well,  it's been quite a while since the last hive check... so with the temp forecast to be in the 50's and 60's today, we went down to Beachland for a visit and a hive check.  Dad had warned me that earlier he had witnessed activity around hives A and B, but none around hive C.  :(   Well, today we confirmed that hive C was toast... and did not make it through the winter.  This was expected since despite attempting to feed both B and C in the fall, hive C never seemed to be storing the sugar water and kept getting smaller and smaller.

On a positive note, hive A appeared to be in REALLY good shape,  I only looked in the top box, but from the pictures below, you can see that they're still occupying the top box very well.  I will need to probably put a honey super on this one earlier than later.  Note that I still have the entrance reducer on this one and will need to remove that as well..... but the nights are forecast to be down into the 30s over the next week, so I'm going conservative.

A shot of the top deep with the telescoping cover removed.  Quite a bit of activity for early March. 

 A shot of the entrance to hive A reveals some foragers laden with pollen... Not sure where they're getting it, but it's nice to see some activity.  

A quick shot of one of the inner frames from the top box.  Lots of pollen, less honey, and hey... a few larvae!

Hive B was in OK shape, but FAR fewer bees in the top box, I didn't want to pull things apart, but a peek 
down into the box showed a reasonably healthy number of bees.

A view of the top deep super of hive B.  Not nearly as many bees in this box as in hive A.

 A look down through the top deep of hive B into the lower deep.  Quite a few bees.  Hopefully the queen is down there somewhere getting ready for spring.  The lack of brood in the top box makes me think I'll have a little time on this one before I have to worry about them swarming.... but we'll keep a close eye on it and probably get a shallow super on it before the full nectar flow.

A view of the front of hive B.  Note the bright pollen on some of these diligent foragers.  Some have an orange colored pollen and others have a pale yellowish pollen.  I'm guessing some of it might be pine pollen... but not sure about that.  There isn't much blooming except dandelions, chickweed, and henbit.  Maybe some other plants as well?