gavin

Start of the willow

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gavin
, 26-02-2012 at 07:39 PM (2425 Views)
Stopped by at the apiary this afternoon and was pleased and surprised to see the strength of the colonies there. First one, 10 seams of bees, almost wall to wall (they're in single National brood boxes). Next one, 10 seams (! - I've never seen the like), one weak one at maybe 2 seams (it had been blown off its stand, but maybe it has a queen problem?), the other one which had been tipped over by the storms had maybe 5 seams, then the last two had 9 and 9 seams. None were desperate for more feed. I can see I'll need extra boxes on them early this year.

In the orchard the snowdrops were starting to go over but elsewhere on the estate some of them still look fresh. The cherry plums (trees regrown off old rootstocks) have flower buds just waiting for a couple of warm days, and just across the main road a short distance away there is a single willow tree of the goat/grey variety in full flower. I hope that the bees take care when they cross the road.

It is going to be an early season, and with early swarms if my bees are anything to go by.

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  1. Jon's Avatar
    I have seen catkins here as well.
    There is plenty of pollen about if the weather lets the bees fly.
    Next week is looking promising.
  2. gavin's Avatar
    There is a long line of willow of the same type near the association apiary but, like most, it is at the silvery stage and not quite ready yet. It just seems to be the odd tree that gets underway early.
  3. Jon's Avatar
    There is one of the common varieties which always seems to produce catkins by the end of February but most of them wait till the end of March around here. There was a huge tree in the garden next door which always produced early catkins but unfortunately it was cut down last year.
    The colonies I have in my garden are finding plenty of pollen. I will have to move them elsewhere by April - maybe just keep one or two quiet ones for honey production. I got 100lbs of honey of the colony in the garden last summer.