The recent excellent weather has put most colonies in very good condition - plenty of stores and new queens well mated. Perhaps the biggest problem is extracting all that honey! Further heavy rain last night (29 June) and today should ensure that the flow continues through July if we get some more warm weather. So:

• Extract the spring crop before it granulates (if you have not already done so) and get those supers back on for a refill. Ideally, wet supers should be returned during the evening to avoid robbing, but during the recent flows wet supers were virtually ignored - I can almost guarantee that this will not be the case in August. Remember that there is some spring rape and this could cause granulation if not extracted.
• Honey does not need to be capped before extracting - if you cannot shake it out of the comb then it is ripe enough to extract.
• Wax moths will rapidly destroy any unattended comb at this time of year - especially brood frames, so keep them on hives - over the crown board with the feed hole open if they are not needed - so that the bees can look after them.
• Varroa numbers seem to be low in most colonies that I have seen recently, but they can increase rapidly at this time of year. It is essential that you plan now for early treatment - ideally as soon as the main crop is removed in August, as this will ensure that you have healthy young bees to go into winter. It is no good treating a collapsing colony in October - by then it will be doomed to die out before the spring. See February 2002 newsletter for a full explanation of the need for early treatment.