Colonies that went to the heather last August, although gathering little or no surplus, did get the usual boost to their brood rearing and were able to go into winter with a population of young bees. The bees that stayed at home suffered poor weather from the end of June last year and most queens shut down early. They were then hit by the worst wasp year in living memory and the hard February and March this year. This has taken a heavy toll on our stocks. The only good news is that I have seen very few varroa and no shrivelled wings (from virus damage), so varroa does not seem to be a problem at present. Our losses vary considerably between apiaries and wasps seem to have been the most significant factor, overwhelming many colonies even with reduced entrances. Many colonies that have died also had large numbers of dead wasps in the hives.

We are not out of the woods yet! The unseasonably cold weather looks set to continue, so:

• Keep checking the food situation and feed if necessary using either fondant or a contact feeder.
• Do not be in too much of a hurry to inspect your colonies. Chilling brood in the early part of the season will set colonies back and exacerbate chalk brood. If a hive feels heavy and there is pollen going in on fine days, then leave well alone unless the weather is warm and the wind light. Work with colonies, not against them.
• Have you put on at least one super per hive?
• Remember to stop varroa treatment before the flow starts.
• Now is a good time to cull poor combs from colonies that have died out.
• Remember that you may need to protect unoccupied comb from wax moth as soon as they become active - they love empty brood comb and will destroy it very quickly. The best protection for comb is bees, so it may be a good idea to use empty boxes to put strong colonies on double brood, ready to split later.
• Do not split colonies too early - small colonies do not gather much honey!