Spring Update: Bees

The bees were checked and topped up with fondant in February to see them through the last of the winter. A quick check over the last week shows they are doing well and starting to get ready for May.  This means the bees are out foraging for pollen which they use to help create more ‘brood’. The Queen is therefore laying her eggs as quickly as she can with the bees starting to build up in number from a few thousand huddling to keep warm over winter to  hopefully over 30 000 per colony by July.

With a bit of sunshine, there’s a good chance of the hives producing some spring honey. This honey can be a real treat as it is far rarer than summer honey and can have some interesting characteristics depending on what forage the bees have found. It is still a little early to go through the hives frame by frame but it’s exactly the start to the season we would hope to have.

 

Neil the Beekeeper