On sunny days, bees have been out flying and were quite busy collecting pollen so the mouse guards have been removed. From the picture here, you can see that when pollen baskets are full, they are quite cumbersome and could easily get knocked off by the mouse guard as they try to re-enter the hive so this is why they have been taken off. I have left the entrance blocks in as this just minimises the cold air rushing through the hives on colder days, as we are not completely into every-day-is-warm territory just yet...(are we ever?). The horrible wet autumn and winter may technically be behind us now but for our bees, further pollen collection could be limited as Breeze Hill growers have not been able to plant everything as soon as they liked.
Although the bees seem to be collecting pollen now, this lack of field planting could mean that they have less to forage on later than they usually do. Therefore, one of my main priorities this month has been to make sure the bees get enough food, including pollen substitute. They have been fed Candy Pollene ( a commercial feed) and they seem to have doing well.
This month, the first inspection was carried out. However, this inspection was not really an inspection. It sounds odd but there is always that time in the year before the season gets going that you want to know what’s going on inside the hive so you can prepare but it’s just a bit too cold to be taking the frames out. So, the first inspection was really a quick look inside. From this, I can make a good estimate as to how strong each colony is. The floor was scraped out to remove any dead bees or detritus from the over wintering period and then the box was put back down. It is really quick - 30 seconds per hive and then the result is recorded. This gives an excellent indicator as to how each hive is doing at this time in the year and allows us to plan accordingly for when the bees really get going next month (fingers crossed!). I will write again soon. Freddie
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