February has been a month of getting jobs done. We normally find it is the calm before the storm, when the ‘real beekeeping’ kicks off next month. The ground is still very wet down at the Lakes apiary so we are trying to be careful and not get stuck in the van down there! 

As mentioned, we’ve done some jobs this month including changing over some hive stands that were looking a bit past their best. It’s a good time of year to do this as there is not so much weight in the hives that they can’t be maneuvered. We have put in our order for frames so that we’ve got some nice new ones come the start of the season. These will be useful when we need to change out old frames or ones that have just been messed up by the bees the previous year (think not drawn out properly, lots of drone brood in the middle etc.). We have also had time to go through a lot of the equipment that we will be needing for the year ahead and trying to stack it back in some kind of orderly fashion with the intention of not stacking the things we will need first at the very bottom! 

We have done a quick welfare check and popped some food onto the colonies. With the warm days we had earlier in the month, we didn’t want the bees to build up, then not be able to get out to forage and subsequently die, as so often happens at this time of year. Smaller colonies got a slab of a pollen patty, and the larger colonies who were starting to come up into the feeders got some syrup with the new SuperBee added in there. We thought it would be a good idea to start adding in some extra pollen, especially as it is clear the colonies are starting to get busy. We have used Vitafeed patties many times in the past but this is the first time we have tried SuperBee so it will be interesting to see how the bees fare.  

Next month we will see more activity, we’re sure of it! March is always the month where the bees really start getting busy and that means we do too. For now though, with the temperatures being so low still, we’re going to make sure that they continue to get the food and supplements they need going into spring and just keep getting organised for the beginning of the active season.