Could be time to break out the shorts...

[JamezF]

We went on first week of April last year and had 9 queen cells waiting for us in one hive!!!!

That's a bit extreme

I really do have no idea what to expect here. Given that my hives are still pretty heavy I won't be entirely surprised if there are an awful lot of bees that have come through the winter, which will presumably mean that things will pick up very fast once the weather is warm enough for them to fly comfortably. Forage around where I live might still be somewhat thin on the ground, but flying to an area where Spring is well on its way is certainly feasible if they want to do so. The very, very earliest of the Blackthorn is just about flowering here (I've seen a few twigs with flowers), but four miles away it's all been in full flower for a couple of weeks. Dropping down off the hilltops seems to make a huge difference.

Assuming we don't fall back into a really cold period as happened last Spring, perhaps we might see a lot of early attempts at swarming this year.

James

 

[Hiveanidea]

After what would appear to be a far cooler few weeks than some people have been having, it was 14°C here today and the forecast for Thursday onwards suggests that we might see quite a few sunny days with temperatures easily climbing into the teens. In turn that means only just over four months after it got too chilly to be wearing them all day I could well be back in shorts again. My legs won't even have had time to get properly pasty and white!

So it might be quite tempting this weekend to crack open a few crown boards and sneak a quick look at what's happening indoors.

James

QUOTE: Quite so. If Hiveanidea is in East Devon then that surely can't be too far from me, but there's precious little sign of things warming up here yet.

James

Tempting to say, l told you so………bar today.……..but not bah humbug - though my bugs will be humming for sure!

 

[JamezF]

Tempting to say, l told you so………bar today

Assuming the forecast turns out to be correct of course, it will have happened exceptionally rapidly. Even today the air temperature was over 9.5°C despite the cloud and rain, though the breeze did feel somewhat cooler than that when I was out earlier exercising my right to bare arms. It's all caught me on the hop a bit. I'm still at least a couple of weeks behind with Winter jobs, so it could be that some of those may well not get done this year.

James

 

[Boston Bees]

We went on first week of April last year and had 9 queen cells waiting for us in one hive!!!!

I hope you left them to get on with their early supersedure (or possibly emergency queen cells) in peace!

 

[pargyle]

You just say these things to wind Pargyle up

No no no .... One day I hope to learn something really productive and helpful from our erstwhile beefarmer, however, with over 5000 posts so far and only one recipe from him that I found very useful, I'm not that optimistic .... He treads his own path and I respect that but, like me, he should be careful not to encourage those who know no better to follow any ways that stray from the acceptable norm. Caveat emptor.

 

[pargyle]

I don't think my bees even got into winter mode this year. Signs of brood all winter!

Yes ... I rather suspect it is the same down here on the Cosda del Fareham - but I'm not about to go looking to satisfy my curiosity !

 

[user 819]

Aye it can still be like that in the middle of April even into May.

Maybe so but often day temps tend to be a bit more settled from week to week.

 

[madasafish]

Ater two consecutive days over 10C, it has been raining today since 11am, it is grey and 5C at 5pm as I write.
Bees all safely in hives or dead,
Shorts are for June if lucky,

Lots more horrible weather in March 6 years out of 10 , I recall Beast from the East in 2018..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Lots more horrible weather in March 6 years out of 10 , I recall Beast from the East in 2018

yes, I remember the Welsh convention about ten years ago (last Saturday in March) we had heavy snow and many people were trapped at the bottom of the sugarloaf waiting for the snowploughs to clear the road.

 

[Amari]

You could probably have checked just by hefting or weighing, as the hives must weight quite a bit? But for next time, anyway.
I have some hives with plenty of honey left too. It's fine. Wait till first proper inspection in April, when the nectar flow is definitely consistently available for the next 2 weeks (can be checked via the weather forecast), and then address the issue. You can at that stage choose to remove any capped frames, re-insert a queen excluder etc etc, depending on what you find.

-Yes, I have been hefting and weighing but was too complacent last winter.
-I fear my combs are full of syrup/fondant, not honey! I'll probably remove them and replace with drawn comb.
-Yes, the nectar flow is likely to be consistent in about three weeks' time - the OSR is growing fast with a few blooms opened already!

 

[Boston Bees]

-Yes, I have been hefting and weighing but was too complacent last winter.
-I fear my combs are full of syrup/fondant, not honey! I'll probably remove them and replace with drawn comb.
-Yes, the nectar flow is likely to be consistent in about three weeks' time - the OSR is growing fast with a few blooms opened already!

Sorry, when said honey, I meant stores - there's fondant in mine too. No difference in terms of what I would do.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

the nectar flow is likely to be consistent in about three weeks' time - the OSR is growing fast with a few blooms opened already

In that case I'd replace the stores bound frames with foundation and get them nicely drawn during the OSR flow.

 

[Nannysbees]

I hope you left them to get on with their early supersedure (or possibly emergency queen cells) in peace!

We were advised to let them get on with it and several queens emerged taking hoards of bees when they swarmed. Little bit more experienced this year so hopefully will handle it differently if it happens again!!

 

[Moobee]

Well, all this talk of shorts has jinxed the weather today. It’s pouring with rain again !

Ditto with added Sahara here. There’s drifts of red sand everywhere!

 

[Arfermo]

I don't think my bees even got into winter mode this year. Signs of brood all winter!

Ditto.

 

[elainemary]

Visited my hives in the valley, what a difference to my home apiary. Big balls of yellow pollen going into all hives and nucs versus little flecks of pollen on the colonies at home.
Still, I gave the ones at home a Ultrabee patty, we're always a couple of weeks behind up here near the moors. There's lots of spring pollen to come in nearby gardens and lots of trees too.

My largest colony at home gave me cause for concern though. Flying well in the sunshine, despite being around 10C, however by late afternoon quite a few underneath the hive and a couple of small balls of bees on the concrete slabs beneath the hive huddled together. Probably a hundred in total. I had a panic, given all the discussion about CBPV last year, thought I spotted a couple with wings outstretched, could that be 'k' wing associated with it...? Look completely normal and large under the clear crown board, on double brood, they have plenty of stores and don't want to disturb them by prodding about, but I am worried.

Half concluded in the end that the bees returned tired after scouting around looking for pollen and got chilled but still don't understand why they would rest on the slabs around / beneath the hive. Tried picking up a few and they were moving around as soon as I picked them up. Will keep a close eye on this colony, it is large (over wintered in double brood) also consistent with CBPV. Yesterday was a drizzly day and cooler, this hive was flying in small numbers and didn't see any bees struggling to get back.

Any thoughts / advice appreciated.
Elaine

 

[Moobee]

Despite the chilly morning, the girls are already out foraging on the rosemary.

 

[Swarm]

Visited my hives in the valley, what a difference to my home apiary. Big balls of yellow pollen going into all hives and nucs versus little flecks of pollen on the colonies at home.
Still, I gave the ones at home a Ultrabee patty, we're always a couple of weeks behind up here near the moors. There's lots of spring pollen to come in nearby gardens and lots of trees too.

My largest colony at home gave me cause for concern though. Flying well in the sunshine, despite being around 10C, however by late afternoon quite a few underneath the hive and a couple of small balls of bees on the concrete slabs beneath the hive huddled together. Probably a hundred in total. I had a panic, given all the discussion about CBPV last year, thought I spotted a couple with wings outstretched, could that be 'k' wing associated with it...? Look completely normal and large under the clear crown board, on double brood, they have plenty of stores and don't want to disturb them by prodding about, but I am worried.

Half concluded in the end that the bees returned tired after scouting around looking for pollen and got chilled but still don't understand why they would rest on the slabs around / beneath the hive. Tried picking up a few and they were moving around as soon as I picked them up. Will keep a close eye on this colony, it is large (over wintered in double brood) also consistent with CBPV. Yesterday was a drizzly day and cooler, this hive was flying in small numbers and didn't see any bees struggling to get back.

Any thoughts / advice appreciated.
Elaine

Sounds more like being caught in the cold, it's warm in the sunshine but a cloud passes and it's instantly cold. I was working on stands up the farm a while ago, it was seven degrees and sunny and the bees were everywhere. Like you describe, small groups collected here and there.
Did they disperse later? By the end of my visit, they were all tucked up inside again.

 

[user 819]

We were advised to let them get on with it and several queens emerged taking hoards of bees when they swarmed. Little bit more experienced this year so hopefully will handle it differently if it happens again!!

Maybe someone suggested so hoping to get some early swarms with VQ's.

 

[user 819]

Bloody well near freezing here today early on and pretty damn chilly in the breeze just now, esp new beaks who need to resist the false dawns of those who have already had a fiddle.