JUNE 2025
Well, what a glorious spring we have had! I hope your bees are building up nicely – mine are ….mostly! It never ceases to amaze me how different every year is, and I think that is one of the delights of beekeeping; it keeps you on your toes, always thinking about what is going on and how your bees are behaving. A perpetual puzzle!
May was certainly a swarmy month and I picked up a couple of swarms, as did others in the swarm catching team. One swarm adopted me, which is handy, and I merged this with a swarm that seemed to be queenless. I also attended a call out to a “swarm” which was definitely honeybees (the homeowner assured me that she knew her bees!). It turned out to be bumblebees, ha ha!
I am hoping to extract some spring honey in a couple of weeks – a relief as I am down to my last jar from last year!
What is going on in the hive?
The queen is busily laying well now, and the size of the colony will be growing rapidly. Your workers should be busy bringing in nectar and pollen.
Check your hives
One of the most important things to keep doing is to make sure your bees have plenty of room – so prepare spare supers so that you can pop one on before they need it. Running out of space is one of the reasons why a colony will swarm, so avoid space being a problem and add a super if in doubt! Whilst May was swarmy, it doesn’t mean that swarming is over – your bees could still swarm in June/July/August, so keep an eye out and have a plan!
You should be into regular inspections now, once a week is ideal because you want to find any queen cells before they are capped (after 8 days), which is when a colony will swarm. I try to visit my colonies more often than that just to observe from the outside to make sure they are coming and going, seemingly well focused and bringing in pollen.
I will be putting varroa boards in next week to assess varroa mite loads.
In your regular inspections:
• Do you see the queen or evidence of the queen (eggs, larvae brood in all stages)
• What does the brood pattern look like? If it is patchy it could indicate that the queen is failing, or a brood disease.
• Look out for evidence of disease. If in doubt and you think it might be EFB or AFB, call the bee inspector who will happily come and take a look.
• What is the temperament like?
• Do you see drones?
• Do you see queen cells? Have your swarm prevention plan to hand and be ready to manage this situation.
• Are there sufficient stores – nectar and pollen. If you take some honey off, leave some for the bees!
• Is there enough room? If in doubt, add another super!
Don’t forget to keep records updated!
- Check the Larder
It feels like spring and summer has come together this year, with all the lovely weather we have been having – I saw brambles in flower last week, when we were still in May. According to the RHS, Bramble shouldn’t start flowering until June at the earliest. With the lack of rain we have had, I just hope it has some nectar! I note that the lime trees and lavendar are showing signs of flowering soon.
Enjoy your bees!
