Third Season: March 2011

At the end of February we had a few days of 'warm' weather then quite suddenly the cold returns. The few Great and Blue tits that had gone elsewhere for wild food were once again visiting my bird feeders. With them came two Robins and the usual host of Wood and Town pigeons hanging around for bits of seeds discarded by the smaller birds.

When the air was warming up I had hoped that at last I could start the beekeeping season with a quick look at what is happening with my hives. Memory of last year's early swarming is still fresh in my mind when I checked my hive late in Match.

The good news is that both hives are showing signs of life: The bees are flying. I had been worrying about the amount of food they may have left. When I last checked I discovered that, over the winter, they had hardly touch the syrup I left for them at the end of the season back in October. I mentioned this to a friend last weekend and she suggested that I really need to take a closer look and may need to feed them.

So on Tuesday I took advantage of the dry spell and cook up a new sugary mixture ( 1kg sugar: 1 L water). While I placed the syrup in the feeder for the bees I also gave both hives a big dollop of honey (from last year). The reaction was immediate. A few more bees flew out to investigate. They were out and about again yesterday. Today the sky is grey and chill wind is blowing so all I can do is wait and keep and eye on the weather forecast.