Bees Flying & Dying
First nice day we have had for some time and the temperature has got up to 9°C and the bees are flying.
However, the colony that I thought was weakest hasn’t survived. A quick look through indicates some dead bees on the frames but not enough for a viable colony. I don’t know whether it was just too weak to start with, but I’m sure the combination of the Oxalic acid treatment and recent very cold weather hasn’t helped.
I will check them for stores this week-end and then decide whether to feed them pollen substitute to try and kick start the season.
With the remaining colonies there is certainly quite a bit of activity and one or two bees have managed to collect some pollen, although not very heavy loads. With the crocuses in flower they can collect some pollen from them.