It may be the spring half term holiday...but our wonderful bees were working hard in the spring sunshine today. 
All 6 hives were flying and bringing in lots of pollen today.. meaning we have laying Queens in all hives and lots of brood!  The pollen varied in colours from almost white to orange, so lots of varied forage for our bees to choose from. 
It is still too early to do a full early spring inspection, but on a 'quick look' today, all hives had lots of stores and were even storing new season nectar.   The new season is just around the corner, so the return to school for the children will involve lots of work and preparation!

Well the spring flowers are appearing all over the Heron Hill school grounds and the bees are out and about enjoying the sunshine... does this mean the spring has arrived??
  Bees generally start flying when the temperature rises around 12 degrees.   
Our girls were out today, many out on much needed 'cleansing flights...' (bees are very clean, and under normal circumstances don't poo in the hive!)  They 'store it up' until the weather is suitably calm for them to 'nip out' and do their business outside.  
Our hardy girls were outside today at 10 degrees and bringing back pollen, a sure sign that things are beginning to happen in the hive.   Bees bring in pollen to feed the brood, so does this mean our Queens are laying?   It is still too early to open the hives to inspect them, but if the mild weather continues then we could be in for an early start to the season. 
So, if you want to give an early helping hand to bees and other vital pollinators, early Crocus, Snowdrops and Hazel all provide a super source of early pollen, so plant them in your gardens and watch the bees arrive! 

Sadly, the 'battle' against the dreaded Varroa mite in bee hives is never completely won...
Like many beekeepers, we practice 'Integrated Pest Management' which means we use various methods throughout the year, not just medicines for our bees, to control the number of harmful parasitic mites in the hive. 
At this time of year when the Queen is not laying... we use Oxalic Acid to kill the mites, which when there is no brood, (baby bees) in the hive... the Varroa mites have no where to hide, meaning they can be eliminated more successfully!  Oxalic acid can be vaporised into the hives, taking all the necessary precautions... or it can be 'dribbled' directly onto the bees.
This year we had 'planned' on using our new vaporiser which plugs into a battery to heat up... 
Sadly, our battery died before we could complete all 6 hives... so the remainder were treated with Oxalic syrup solution... unfortunately messier and more intrusive for the bees... (to say they didn't like it is a bit of an understatement!)
But, it means the children can see the efficacy of the two methods by comparing how many Varroa mites drop onto the bottom boards for us to see.... We will tell you the results of our 'very informal' research!!

Although our Bee Team are having a well deserved month off... the work in the Heron Hill apiary never stops entirely!
Throughout the winter we have been going down to the hives to regularly 'Heft' the hives which means lifting one side to 'estimate' the weight of the stores the bees have available to them to see out the Cumbrian winter.   Fondant has been topped up when needed and the children have used all their senses to 'look, listen and feel' how the colonies are doing. 
February is often a risky period for our bees... stores could be running low and the weather can be very cold and wet.  It is also the time when the worker bees are at their lowest numbers... so we need to be extra vigilant until the Spring weather arrives...(hopefully soon!) 
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