Because of the mild spring weather, we decided yesterday to begin to remove some of the winter wrappings from the bee hives. This is much earlier than we've done in past years. When we arrived in the beeyard, we were greeted with the sight of many bees flying around, which is a very good sign. Can you see them in front of the hives? There is an opening near the bottom where they can enter and exit.
When we removed the insulation covering the top of the first hive, we were pleasantly surprised to see how active they have been. This is burr comb, a wax comb that the bees build willy-nilly when there is space available to do so.
The bees have wintered extremely well; it was wonderful to see such numbers this early in the season.
They seem to be enjoying crawling through the tunnels in the burr comb:
Here I am holding up the hive cover so you can see the bees "bridging" (hanging in a line) which is a sign of a happy colony. There were also no agressive bees dive bombing us (and thus no stings) which is also a sign of contentment.
Our mild Nova Scotia winter has been kind on the bee colony; now we need to keep careful watch that they have enough food to sustain them until the first blossoms appear.
When we removed the insulation covering the top of the first hive, we were pleasantly surprised to see how active they have been. This is burr comb, a wax comb that the bees build willy-nilly when there is space available to do so.
The bees have wintered extremely well; it was wonderful to see such numbers this early in the season.
They seem to be enjoying crawling through the tunnels in the burr comb: 
Here I am holding up the hive cover so you can see the bees "bridging" (hanging in a line) which is a sign of a happy colony. There were also no agressive bees dive bombing us (and thus no stings) which is also a sign of contentment.
Our mild Nova Scotia winter has been kind on the bee colony; now we need to keep careful watch that they have enough food to sustain them until the first blossoms appear.
Amazing. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your posts about the bee hives. It's good to see the bees are happy. Here's hoping it's a sign of good things to come!
ReplyDeleteWhat a very interesting post! We've enjoyed a nice winter here as well and esp lately the weather has been unseasonably warm, what a treat for NW Ontario!
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