SWARMING!

I had to carry out my first artificial swarm today; there were four charged queen cells in one of my hives. I am a bit sceptical about whether its too early, though a good few of my hives have drones in them. So the swarming season has begun. Looking back to last years notes it began around this time in 2014 too!

Turning Yellow

The fields of green now have a hint of yellow; it appears the Oil Seed Rape is coming into flower in my area. The bees will be working it soon and the colonies will expand quickly.

Been A Long Time!

I managed to check all my colonies this week to ensure that they are okay after the winter. As I updated my records I saw that the last time I checked brood was nearly eight months ago, such a long time, hard to believe! So I am more than happy to have seen over 30 queens during my checks . :-)