Wednesday 8 March 2017

The Bees are Back in Town

The Bees have spent the winter in their hives clustered together to keep warm.
They eat the honey that they have spent all summer making which gives them the energy to generate warmth, and they will do this to keep the very centre of the cluster a nice 32 degrees celsius all winter long.
In the middle of this warm cluster the Queen is kept warm and fed, and as the spring approaches she will begin to lay a small number of eggs, to replace the winter bees that will start dying off with spring bees needed to start the colony expansion when spring comes.
Whenever the outside temperature is above 10 degrees Celsius the worker bees will be able to leave the hive to do some outside chores, they are:
·         Going to the toilet, because they won’t do that inside the hive no matter how long they have to stay in, they are very hygienic.
·         Collecting water, to reconstitute honey back into a more nectar like substance that is easier to feed on.
·         Collect any available pollen to feed the new larvae, pollen being a protein source that is need to help them grow.
Soon, when the outside temperature is regularly above 13-14 degrees celsius, I will do the first inspection of the year to see how they are getting on.
This is a tense moment for me, did they have enough food to survive? Was the varroa population reduced to a tolerable level? Have they survived the winter?
Also it is the best time of the year, as I get to see them again after a long winter of needing to leave them alone to keep warm, I have missed them very much!

B Wing

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