JANUARY 2024
Firstly I hope you had some great bee-themed Christmas presents! My sister bought me a Jabeprode Asian Hornet Trap for Christmas – YAY!!!
So Happy New Year to you, I hope you are as excited as I am to see the days slowly getting lighter, although this is more noticeable on some days rather than others! I have started looking at the seed catalogues to see what bee friendly flowers I can grow this year.
The weather is too warm at the moment 11-13 °C on some days, and I have noticed my bees flying from time to time, I have already given them some fondant but will check over the next couple of days to see if that has gone, in which case I will give them some more!
By all means heft your hives (I am not a fan of heavy lifting….and prefer to just give them some fondant).
Continue to make sure your hives are protected from the elements and wildlife as appropriate – particularly in these windy periods – time to batten down the hatches for sure.
What’s going on in the hive?
The queen may still lay eggs through the winter particularly as it is so warm, so you may see bees bringing in pollen on warmer days. Apart from that, the bees will go into a cluster in the colder weather to keep warm.
What’s in the larder?
There is very little forage around now, although there are signs of hope! I noticed a polyanthus in bloom today in my garden, and the winter honeysuckle will come into flower very soon. The faithful gorse and viburnum tinus remain in flower!