Who mourns the wasps? Me.
Me and my lemon tree.
Read MoreVery sloe sorbet
A delicious by-product of sloe gin production.
Read MoreA copper spring
The beekeeping season has begun.
Read MoreDeformed Wing Virus
Varroa volumises vexing virus.
Read MoreWe made landing boards
Hive improvements.
Read MoreThese strange days of summer
It’s been beekeeping weather in February. When it’s warm enough to be outside in a T-shirt, it’s warm enough to open a hive. But I haven’t.
Almond blossom
Flowers are welcoming the bees, and vice versa. Snowdrop, crocus and winter aconite are finishing now, but we have blackthorn, hellebore, grape hyacinth and - just opening - almond.
The bees have also been foraging for water from a pebble tray that I was temporarily using to water plants outside. It has become so popular with the bees over the past couple of weeks that I think I will have to leave it there. The pebble tray is particularly good as a water source because it warms up quickly in the sun so that the drinking bees don’t get chilled, and they can settle on the stones without risk of drowning. I will build a similar feature into the new apiary pond.
Drinking bees
