February has been a busy month again at the apiary. The strange warm week of weather (UK record for February) put the bees into overdrive. Thinking spring is here, they broke their winter cluster, ventured out from the hive looking for pollen and nectar. The problem with this is there is not the usual food sources available. Hopefully we wont have a really cold snap as that could prove a bit of a disaster.
I took advantage of the warm weather to do a complete frame change. I removed all the old frames from last season
and provided the bees with clean wax foundation for the coming year. This keeps the risk of disease down (and provides me with a supply of beeswax to make candles.) I had a quick look through the colonies and checked the health of the bees and topped up their food supply as it is not really spring yet.
The bees look well with all colonies surviving the winter so far. One of the hives is looking a little weak, but I am hoping a good supply of food will maintain them until I can change the queen in the spring.
In one of the hives I got lucky and spotted the queen. (I was not looking for her, but her majesty decided to make an appearance) which is always a welcome assurance things are well.
The other hives all showed the presence of eggs and larvae so this tells me they all have a functioning queen.
Roll on spring.