Sorry no pics today.
It's such a bright, warm(ish), dry day I decided to find out if the colonies
are alive and if so are they hungry? First put on beesuit & veil & gloves!
5 colonies - White, Blue, Red, Yellow, Silver. Working very quickly, one at
a time, I took off the insulation and the top 2 lifts (WBC hives). Then using hive tool
gently levered up the top board and peeped underneath. If no sign of bees I levered
up the top box (shallow) , checked its weight and peeped under to find if bees were
in the brood box.
The outcomes: White/Blue/Red- plenty honey in top box; loads of bees clustered between top
box and brood box. No candy needed. Colonies strong.
. Yellow- bees in brood box; some capped honey in super but some empty combs.
Action - uncapped some comb above bee cluster. Put eke, then 500g candy above super.
Silver - we've had a lot of dead bees in this hive but there are still some alive.
This colony is now weak and could die if we get a long cold spell as the cluster will be too small.
Anyway, put eke on and the 500g candy above where the bees are. Hope for the best!
Back to cleaning up frames ready for Spring.
QB says be watchful of the weather - keep sliders clear of dead bees - brush any snow
off the let board. Winter's not over yet!
Once you start feeding them you need to carry on.
