The first flowers of spring

Thankfully we have not had the snow and freezing temperatures that much of mainland Britain have been experiencing this weekend. Today was relatively mild and I went for a walk around the garden in the vain hope that I might see some bees on the Snowdrops.

One of the things I like most about keeping bees is that it has made me pay much more attention to which plants are in flower and what might be a potential source of pollen or nectar. At the moment the only flowers around are the Snowdrops, but they are one of my favourite flowers because they herald the coming of the longer days and the warmer weather.

I went down to the hives today but it was too cold for any bees to be out and about. I had a very quick peek under the roofs of each hive and was able to see that there were at least some bees in each of my hives (I have clear plastic crown boards so I did not have to open the hives up).

I was surprised to see a good many bees up on top of the top bars of the frames, just under the crown board - maybe with my well insulated roofs it's the warmest place to be! This meant that I was able to clearly see the location of the cluster of bees in each hive.

In one hive the bees have moved into the front right corner of the hive - this worried me slightly because I'm scared that by going into a corner they might become isolated from the stores in the rest of the hive. My nuc seems to be quite weak and I'm not sure if it will be viable come the spring, but hopefully it will be.

Here's hoping for an early spring and some warmer weather!