The glorious weather at the end of February meant our bees really were out in force foraging and expanding their colonies. Unfortunately, this was followed by a horrible, wet and windy spell at the beginning of March, forcing the bees to stay inside their hives. As a result, they ended up eating a lot of the stores they had just gathered and so they needed feeding again to get them through the rest of those wet and windy days. Not ideal but that’s beekeeping!

Thanks to storms Freya and Gareth, as well as making sure the bees had enough food to eat, I also had to make sure the hives were still standing! To my relief, not one had been blown over but some of the entrance blocks had popped out in the winds. This could have made it fairly blustery for the bees in those hives. There’s a lesson – fit entrance blocks tightly into the entrances so they stay secure in strong winds, otherwise you may end up chasing them round the apiary.

The second half of March brought us some lovely, warm weather here in Lincolnshire allowing the bees to get out and forage once more. They have been spotted bringing in hordes of pollen and the hives are feeling much heavier than they were at the start of the month. The picture above shows a colony that began as a nucleus last year. It seems to be going from strength to strength so I have high hopes for it this year.

Next month, fingers crossed, we will be able to get out and do some proper beekeeping!