Topical Tips
For February 2004
This is probably the last chance to work in a relatively bee-free apiary, so get all the 'gardening' done on those dull days when the bees are all indoors. Gardening is not much fun in a beesuit on a hot day.
It is now very important to ensure that bees have sufficient stores, especially in colonies headed by young queens that bred late into the autumn and will now be very busy in the milder weather. I think that fondant is best, but small quantities of syrup can be fed if the weather is mild using a contact feeder - the bees will not go up to a Miller or Ashforth. Do not be afraid to open a colony for checking if it is very light - it is better than letting them starve. Where colonies have stores in the wrong place, you can move the full frames of food so that they are beside the cluster. Provided that you do not remove frames of brood and work fairly quickly then you will not do any harm. Remember the old adage that 'dead bees gather no honey!'
If you have spare brood boxes, now is the time to clean, repair and treat them with preservative. They can then be used to transfer colonies - perhaps in March or April - into clean new boxes. The old ones can then be cleaned up in readiness for swarm prevention measures in May.
Why not draw up a management plan for the coming season? Think about colony numbers, siting, whether you have sufficient boxes, frames, foundation, floors, roofs. What went wrong last year - and what went right? How would you like to do things differently this year? What about that bad-tempered colony? Will you need to replace queens? Will you rear them yourself or buy some? If the latter, where will you get them? What characteristics would you like them to have?
The current wet weather is an ideal time to evaluate out-apiary sites, both existing and prospective. If it is knee deep in mud and you cannot get a vehicle within half a mile, then perhaps it is time to think again!
Peter Edwards 03/02/2004
