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!
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