Will this cold weather never come to an end.
23rd April and still too cold to be doing hive inspections.
I visited the branch apiary today. Mick Clarke was there so helped me out.
We took the roof off each hive and took a quick look under the crown board.
A quick assessment if the colony needed more space or not.
If they needed more space then a Queen excluder and a super were put on. Back on with the crown board and roof.
20 seconds (max) per hive.
One hive was very agitated and came at us in serious numbers, it reminded me of a swarm leaving a hive. It could be that it is about to swarm – but far too cold to inspect.
This hive proved (again) the golden rule. Beesuit on and smoker lit WHENEVER you are touching the hives.
Many a sting has been suffered by beekeepers who start the sentence “ I was only going to…………” 😊
Looking at the long-range forecast – the rest of April is depressing as is the first two weeks in May.
https://www.metcheck.com/WEATHER/180days.asp?MonthOf=5&zipcode=coventry
The weekend of Friday 19th – Sunday 21st May is looking good for the first inspection. ☹