Someone's hungry: reassuring 'Proof of Life' in our hives

We all know that the winter months can be quite nerve-wracking for beekeepers: will the bees survive? are the hives insulated properly? do they have enough stores to see them through to the spring? We do what we can, placing foam inside the roofs, or installing quilt boxes, and we heft the hives to calculate the amount of honey they have left, but we don't really know what's going on inside. On sunnier warmer days a few bees may venture out to see what forage is around (and to have a quick poo!) and it's heartwarming to see pollen being taken into the hive at this time of year. 

I was especially encouraged though to see "proof of life" (or at least proof of stores being raided!) when I slid out the bottom board of one of our hives today. As you can see in the photo above, lines of wax cappings have fallen from the frames where the bees have been uncapping the honey stores, showing that they have been accessing the food in great quantities. I have to be vigilant that they don't run out of food too soon and so have added some extra candy over the feeder hole in the crownboard, but I am happy to know that there are a lot of bees in this colony and they are all actively feeding. Fingers crossed for the next few weeks!

Make Mine a Pint!

 As we approach the Spring Equinox (and with it, a 'Worm Moon' apparently!) the longer days mean that we are seeing more and more of our bees as they venture out to inspect the lay of the land. Obviously locating forage as soon as possible is important as the queens will be laying and brood (baby bees) need to be fed. Finding water is every bit as key to the colony's survival as sources of pollen, so we always advise that you put out some water for your bees. This needs to be in a shallow container, ideally with various items such as leaves or pieces of wood for the bees to stand on to ensure that they don't drown while drinking. We diligently do this in our apiaries, along with placing pots of damp soil near the hives (the bees can suck the moisture from the earth).

However, you know the saying "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink"? The same is true of bees; I have never actually seen any bees drinking the water that I carefully put out for them. The ingrates. Instead I find them around my watering can and the chickens' saucers. Their favourite drinking den, though, is the poor tortoise's water bowl.....who knows what it is but they love it! The important thing is that, like all living creatures, they need water to survive and so if you keep bees, please ensure they have access to a safe supply. If you don't keep bees, you can still do your bit to help them (and keep them from clustering around your swimming pool!) by putting out a pot of damp earth or a shallow saucer of water with a pebble or leaf in it. Cheers!