We have lift off!
This past weekend saw the opening of the first flower on the almond tree, of the first flower on the flowering currant, and of the beehives.
Read MoreOld Library Botanical Exhibition at Christ's College Cambridge
I went along to this exhibition this afternoon.
Read MoreWinter Flowers
We have a Christmas Box (Sarcococca) in the front garden, covered in sweet flowers, which the bees have been visiting.
They seem to be collecting nectar rather than pollen. Their pollen baskets are empty and I think in a couple of the photos you can see that they are extending their tongues into the base of the flowers. Here's a close-up:
Incidentally, a word about photographing bees on flowers. Bees are too busy to pause for many Kodak moments. And if they do, you can be sure my camera will be focusing on something else. I suppose that's why BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year tends not to be won by people who've just whipped a camera phone out of their pocket.
Anyway, I had some questions. Are those flowers really producing nectar? Does the nectar taste like the flowers smell? Would honey from the nectar taste like that too? Try tasting the flowers...yes, I think there is a sweetness there.
Under the microscope, I tried to see whether there was nectar at the base of the flowers. Removing the stamens to get a better look, I saw a shiny green middle, and perhaps knocked some tiny drops of nectar from it on to the petals...but I'm not sure.
Tasty crocus
Early nectar is vital for the honey bees. In the hives, brood numbers are growing while honey reserves are dwindling.
They need pollen too, but they seem to be finding that, as bees return to the hive laden with full pollen baskets.
In the apiary we have a few crocuses, which the birds have thoughtfully eaten the petals off to help the bees get to the pollen.
There is also this plant, which for some time I tried to eradicate from romping round the pond, but my efforts were unsuccessful:
It turns out to be the Winter Heliotrope. Apparently it is a good source of early nectar, although I have not subjected it to the same investigations as the Christmas Box. Anyway I am now pleased to have it here for the bees. It turns out that this plant is rather like the Ents from the Lord of the Rings, insofar as it has male and female forms but only the males are to be found. The plant was introduced from Africa, but only the male. The female plants are absent from Britain. Welcome to Copper Bee Apiary, Winter Heliotrope.
Keeping a lid on it
Today is not the day.
Read MoreListening
It's 7 degrees Celcius (45 F) outside, and even though we've had some sunshine there haven't been many bees flying from the hives today. It's too cold and anyway there's very little forage available at this time of year. So all is quiet. I went out on to the gin terrace and put a stethoscope to the wall of the Disc Hive. I listened. At once I became aware of how noisy it actually is round here - a light aircraft was passing overhead, traffic was rumbling, and then for good measure a train went past. The bees were probably huddled inside trying to get some peace.
I couldn't hear anything that sounded like inner hive noise. I tried knocking on the hive wall to see if that would ruffle the bees into making a sound. But at that point another train went past. And the aircraft was still puttering on. Things were the same when I tried the Cedar Hive.
So I went out into the garden. I put the stethoscope against the front of the Copper Hive brood box, and knocked. There was an answer! A susurrus rose and fell. I went to the Pond Hive and tried the same - another answering susurrus!
Feeling encouraged, and having got my ear in, I returned to the Disc Hive and Cedar Hive and retried. Yes - both answered.
It's a quiet sound, a bit like a gust of wind stirring the twigs at the top of a tree. I guess it's a rustle of wings as the bees react to the disturbance. I will leave them in peace now. I am waiting for the first day when it is warm enough to open the hives, when I will revert the hives to their "summer configuration" (that is, a super above the brood box rather than vice versa) and at the same time I will insulate the rooves. They have insulation in spring, rather than in winter, because it is in spring that we get the big temperature fluctuations - warm days and frosty nights - and the bees must keep warm enough during the night to cover their growing brood. If they have to huddle back into their winter clusters, the brood will become chilled and die. On the other hand clustering in winter is their way of conserving energy and they need less honey to get through the cold months that way, so I don't insulate the hives for the onset of winter.
Agatha Christie: 9 Honey Bees
This morning, nine dead worker bees were lying on the landing board of the Pond Hive. What - or who - killed these bees, so close to their own front door?
Read More