This month here in Lincolnshire we have finally had some rain! The grass is starting to look a lot greener and the flowers seem to be providing some much-needed nectar for the bees. However, earlier in the month this was not the case, with the hot, dry weather drying up the nectar flowers that bees would normally forage on. For this reason, we fed the bees a syrup mixture to keep them going.

Wasps have continued to be an issue with many hovering around waiting for a chance to nip into the hives and rob their stores. As well as using entrance blocks, we have introduced Wasp-outs into the apiaries. They fit in exactly the same as entrance blocks but they also have an attachment on the front which enables bees to find their way in but leaves wasps a bit confused. The picture above was taken just after inserting the Wasp-out into a hive and as you can see, the bees are a bit confused to start with, but they soon figure it out!

This month we have also treated for varroa with Apivar. These strips will be left in for between 6 to 10 weeks depending on the size of the brood nest. The reason for this choice is because colonies can be fed whilst treating, an advantage over other treatments at this time of year. This will give chance for the brood cycle to go round a couple of times and will hopefully result in good, strong, healthy winter bees hatching out that will be able to keep the colony going through the cold months.

Moving forward we will be keeping a close eye on stores and making sure that any weak colonies are united before they go into winter.