It’s way too cold!

So right now I would be looking to think about opening the hive. This time of year we need to take a quick peek to check what is going on and work out what to do next but it’s way too cold, or raining, or both!

Beekeepers have to wait all winter to see if the hive has survived. If we open too soon the bees could die of cold and if we open too late, they might have all kinds of issues going on in there- varroa, more than one queen, getting ready to swarm – who knows what!

This winter as many of 23% of hives were lost over winter (BBKA 2018) in the South East of England for example and though this can be for many reasons the weather is a definitely a factor. in our beekeeping association one very experienced beekeeper lost 4 out of 5 hives.

We don’t know until we open if there is anyone in there and we are hotly anticipating our opening!!