Update from the hives: Feb '13

Finally some milder weather; wahoo!  On Friday it was a balmy 9 degrees at rosybee so we took the opportunity to have a quick peek at the bees; only taking the roof off to see as far as ekes we have put above the queen excluder as a space for extra food. It all good news: all four hive have made it through the winter although with differing levels of activity.

All but one had been eating the fondant (see above) we gave them at Christmas and one hive had completely finished their block so we gave them a bit more. There were not many bees flying but we did see a couple of bees carrying bright orange pollen (see picture left) into the hives which is a sure sign that their queen has started laying and they need the pollen to feed the babies.

The one hive that had not touched its fondant probably has plenty of honey as the hive still has some weight to it. However this may mean that their numbers are greatly reduced, hence why they have not consumed so much, therefore we will keep an eye on then just case.