We have had a lot of rain, stormy weather, and low temperatures here in the south east over the past couple of weeks so apart from strapping down the hives against Storm Bella, I’ve not been over to the apiary. It was cold and damp today, but I wanted to have a look at the inspection boards on the hives that have them to see what information I could gather about the colonies. None of the bees were flying apart from a solitary forager from the Warré, which I think may be harbouring a hungry mouse…
I have a full video of both the National, the WBCs, and the Warrés over on my Patreon if you would like to enjoy a more fulsome account of what we are looking for when checking the Varroa boards. All the hives I checked have a fairly hefty mite load so I will be interested to see how they get on once the pollen and nectar reappears. The willow is just starting to burst its buds on some trees which is incredibly early, and the crocus are popping their leaves up.
I have a combination of mature (3-4 year old) colonies and 2020 swarms, both prime and cast, so I am expecting a high winter loss but it all depends on the weather, forage, and resilience of the bees.
Wayward Bee 