Midwinter moves

The 3,000+ words last week (So, you want to be a beekeeper) inevitably omitted lots of detail. It wasn't meant to be a complete introduction to the subject. In fact, it couldn't be ... if it was, I'd still be writing it now, and you'd still be reading it.

I'd like to thank those who emailed me pointing out all the things I'd missed ... 😉.

Nevertheless, I did mention the impact of the weather, the necessity to conduct regular inspections and - in a few throwaway words in the closing paragraph - that it can sometimes be very hard work.

As described last week, the development cycle of bees - particularly queens - and the vagaries of the weather sometimes conspire, meaning you need to conduct inspections in adverse conditions.

Don't delay

This point could be usefully expanded ... there will be times during the beekeeping season when prompt action or intervention is needed, and where delaying whatever it is that's needed could be catastrophic.

Swarm control is one such time, but there are several others {{1}}.

A good example, and one particularly relevant to this time of the season (winter {{2}}), is the addition of fondant to a colony that is running low on stores. Don't wait for a 'good day' to pop the lid and add some fondant ... that could be a fortnight away, and they might starve by then.

Similarly, late in the season (often around the time you take the summer honey off), strong colonies can start robbing nearby weak colonies. Wasps, the carnivorous cousins of honey bees, can also be a real menace at that time of the year. If you observe your colonies being robbed then you should intervene pronto, a weak colony can be destroyed distressingly fast if you are not careful.

I'll save further discussion of robbing until later in the year when it's more relevant {{3}}, but will return to the topic of feeding underweight colonies in winter later in this post.

Winter weather and apiary maintenance

The first (and only?) prolonged period of cold weather this winter has passed. Although there were a few days with frost before the end of December, it was a reasonably warm month. The average temperature was ~6°C, but it exceeded low double-figures on almost half the days in December. I commented on this mild weather at the beginning of the year and was also aware that November had been just as benign.

I was surprised by the presence of brood in my colonies in mid-November - a first as far as I can remember {{4}} - and was slightly concerned that this additional brood rearing in the final months of the year would result in stores being used up faster than usual. There was no chance they'd be starving, or anything close, but there's still a long way to go until the spring nectar becomes available.

I therefore intended to check the colonies as early as practical in the New Year.