I went to the branch apiary yesterday to check the site and heft the hives.
The site looked good – the daffodils were in bloom and things were starting to bud up 😊
The ground was very boggy with some pools of water in the apiary by the hives. However, the drain system was working very well with lots of water running away off the site.
The hives were all hanging in there still. Hefting showed they were getting lighter so a block of fondant was added to each colony some of the Candipollen had been eaten.
Since then, I am getting reports of members losing a number of their colonies. I have lost 5 so far, 3 to unexplained causes. Another member has lost 8 from 15.
This leads me to suspect that there is a lot of Nosema around this year and we need to do something about it.
The committee has discussed organising a Nosema clinic where members can bring samples of their bees (30 per hive) and have them tested under a microscope.
The clinic would last half a day.