May I take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Easter.
You should have done your first annual inspection by now, and know what state your bee’s are in after this particularly wet and warm winter.
I’ve checked all my hives and my overwintered bees are in a very healthy state, ready for sale now from my various apiaries in the Midlands.
I’ve fixed and varnished one of my hive stands in my Nottingham site and fed two hives with fondant just to be on the safe side as this month is cross over month. After last years storms, three of my hives will be moved 15 metres from where they were re sited after being toppled by a tree to where the new hive stand has been rebuilt and repaired. Remember if moving hives the rule of thumb is incidental moved of three metres at a time, so the bees can recalibrate their flight path without losing their mother hive.
I find that the key month when bees starve is January and February and this is because they have not made enough winter stores to get them through the winter. This does happen with new summer colonies occasionally.
The spring flowers are in full bloom, so nectar flow has already started and I’ve witnessed high levels of forage activity already from daffodils, hyacinths, snowflakes, primrose and iris and from tree blossom including local lime trees and cherry blossom.
Give me a call if you need a new 5 frame box of healthy brood and a queen today and you’ll receive them within 48 hours, via royal mail tracked delivery.
This was one of my hives that was re-sited last November after the storms on an old wheelbarrow, if you look carefully. Look how active this hive was yesterday. This hive will be moved back to the empty hive stand, 3 metres at a time.
The Bee year has started with earnest.