gavin
A quick inspection
by
, 23-03-2012 at 07:22 PM (8181 Views)
Had another visit yesterday and pulled some frames for the first time as the sun was out and the sheltered site was encouraging lots of flying. There was a Japanese quince just inside the garden which was humming with bees, apparently collecting pollen.
The strong colony on the west end of the row had bees over all frames and brood on four. Some of that brood was drone and a decent sized patch of that was already sealed. There was also nectar in some frames - could be from willow or early fruit. Cherry plum, early plums and, on a wall, peaches are in bloom. Something tells me this one could be a candidate for swarming in April if the build-up continues this early. Went into the two weaker ones (the ones that had been blown off their stands in the December gales) and they had neat broodnests filling a frame or two each with brood right across. Pleased with that too.
Didn't open all seven but the ones I left all had vigorous activity and lots of pollen coming in. The vigour of these colonies alone suggests that all is well inside. Might have looked through these at the weekend, but we're due for cool breezes off the sea so maybe not.
They were still on willow.