March

As expected, this month the active beekeeping season began, especially kicking off towards the end of the month with those lovely warm, sunny days. This has meant we have been able to have a more in depth look through the colonies and see where we are at and what we are working with. Thankfully, the hard work we put in last year has paid off and the colonies are looking the strongest they have for a long time at this time of year.

We have noticed the bees bringing in lots of pollen on their back legs which has been a lovely site to see. We have therefore removed all wasp outs or any remaining mouse guards to make sure that the pollen is not knocked off when entering the hive. Towards the beginning of the month, we provided the bees with some pollen patties to support their growth however it has been nice to see the bees collecting their own pollen as this is a good indication of Queen and colony health. We have not needed to actually feed the bees any syrup yet this spring which we are quite pleased about.  Not only does it show that the colonies are strong and looking good going into the Spring, it also means that it’s one less job for us to do… always a win when there are a thousand other things to do!

As you can see from this photo, there are plenty of bees in this hive. It is always a bit of a shame when you remove parts of the hive to get in the brood and you are met with this scene of brood cells which have been torn open. This is unavoidable if we want to inspect the bees so fingers crossed once everything has been cleaned up, the bees will stick to the main body of the frames and we won’t have to deal with this too much in future.

Going forward into April, we will be making a concerted effort to swap in new frames for old ones so that we are starting the year on good decent frames and getting rid of any that are looking a little bit worse for wear. This just helps keep disease at bay and it also makes it easier for us to check through the brood and identify eggs and young larvae. It is also prime nuc making season, so we anticipate being extremely busy in April and May. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly!