At last a somewhat slow spring becomes warm, so it is time to head out to the olde country and check in on the girls. I had gone out a month earlier and the signs weren't good: few bees, all seemed rather quiet, though it wasn't desperately warm then.But today things are better. Here's the "before" hive, only lightly overgrown; "after" is somewhat better.
Opened up, things seem quite believable: there are bees, rather well behaved ones in fact despite my somewhat rough treatment; lacking a car right now I am equipement light which means not much in the way of smoke; smoke being hard to transport by bicycle, you understand.
I don't even consider taking off any honey at this point, I'm just looking in. And traces of rape remain in the fields.
View from above onto the brood box. No, I didn't lift the queen excluder. Do you think I'm mad?
My friends back garden remains idyllic-looking in the sunshine.
Update 2024/06/02: Sunday was nice so I drove out to Coton prepared to take honey off, if needed. But when I came to look, it was all rather light: frames with some honey in, but the capped stuff wasn't freshly-so; so I decided to leave them be. Or bee. It has been a wet spring, but I wonder if they are a new swarm. Pic of hive herePic of hive here.
Refs
* "Hive B" didn't survive the winter; but did provide a refuge for a shrew. Video.
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