Back to the bees

[Tim.S]

For the first time in 18 months or so I am back at the bees, this time with no limitations thanks to a total knee replacement in January and what a joy it is to be 'normal' again, whatever that is!
What is not normal, at least for me is the sheer volume of honey they are producing this year. This is the best of 10 over 3 sites, down from 50 a few years ago. It has not been treated for varroa in that time and is packed wih bees, and no qc's so far this year. They have had quite a bit of foundation to keep them occupied but it doesn't seem to slow them down much. Definitely a potential breeder queen in there.
I have very little rape around this apiary so I can only put i down to hawthorn which I have never seen bloom in this quantity or duration before. Good times!

View attachment 20230525_120430.jpg

 

[enrico]

Every plant in our area is covered in bloom like no other year. Good to see you back with a new knee.

 

[OXFORDBEE]

So good to read you are back up and running. Great to see you are doing so well. Enjoy and good luck with the extracting!!!

 

[Sutty]

My hives are humming & smell of hawthorn. On a peek through the transparent crow boards I need more supers on asap!! Will need to extract too!