I’ll post updates to the intermittent activity I undertake with the colonies over Winter. The main items will be feeding with fondant and checking for woodpeckers that have visited in the past.

The weather in November and December was mild and the bees were flying on the warmer days until mid-November. January has started off very cold and wet.

• 16th January – hefted the hives and lifted the crownboards. Looks like Honeydew & Indigo are both  small, Indigo just 2 seams of bees, and would be surprised to see it survive despite having plenty of stores. Decided to feed 0.5Kg slabs of Ambrosia fondant to 4 of the 7. Blue, Flax, Honeydew and Indigo.

• 25th January – Checked a week later and see that Flax has already finished the Ambrosia, while Blue hasn’t touched theirs.

• 31st January – added 300g more fondant to Flax.

• 2nd February – Looked at Honeydew and Indigo & only Indigo has touched the Ambrosia.

• 4th February – Temperatures slightly higher 8ºC – 9ºC and bees are flying and bringing in pollen (crocus?). Jade is a dead out, seems to have dwindled with the remaining bees dead on floor and frame, no brood so could be due to poorly mated queen. Hive activity rankings: Flax, Cyan, Blue and then Aqua

• 25th February – Weather warming up to 9ºC – 11ºC but very rainy. Fed all colonies: Flax, Cyan, Blue with 1Kg of Ambrosia, Honeydew & Indigo with 1/2Kg Ambrosia and Aqua with fondant.