gavin

Four happy hours at the apiary yesterday with Bill and Sean, watching them become beekeepers. It was a cracking day and the sun was streaming down. The bees were happy, apart from one that came to greet us when we approached - not quite sure why that one was so annoyed. There was a scuffle with a bumble bee at one hive, so maybe it thought that we were giant bumble bees. Honeybees can be like that sometimes, a little dim at least when the red mist comes down. Apart from that it was one of those days when you never worried if the smoker went out.

I put extra brood boxes (one with just foundation) on two colonies four days previously, and a box of super foundation three days ago on another. Today they were working a frames in each one. One had a sheet of eggs in the new top box. At this rate they will indeed draw out the second box and maybe more during the spring flower season. However we are now well into a very dry spell. The bees were foraging steadily but there was no frenzy despite the OSR fields, sycamore in full flower and good show of dandelions and fruit trees. There has been hardly any rain for weeks and continuing easterly breezes keeping it cool and dry despite the sun so I doubt that many plants are secreting much nectar. They need a good wetting to be at their best.

We came across two unmarked queens and as I couldn't be bothered shuffling the queen about to an area of stores for the press-in cage, I just grabbed them by the finger and thumb method.

Two colonies are going hell-for-leather and just filling the boxes with worker brood and honey with small patches of drone here and there. One, less vigorous, has brood on about 8-9 frames but this one has gone over to drone raising in a big way now. It doesn't seem to need more brood space so it has a super instead. That last one looks like it may go over to swarming mode ahead of the rest. Colonies in Dundee and the Carnoustie area have been making queen cells for a week or so which shows what an early year this is turning out to be. Others have small survivors which are taking some time to return to strength and three of mine are in that category.