Early Spring Activity

It's been about a week and a half since I went to the hives and found a lot of activity. Bees were out foraging and drinking water - or perhaps they were bringing it back to the hive in order to dissolve some crystallized honey? It was lovely to seem them in apparent good health and mite free.

I say mite free.  Since the treatment in late December I have checked the board under the OMF for debris and have found little or no mite drop in the weeks since.  Not a perfectly scientific approach I admit, more empirical if you will, but it gives me confidence that the treatment was good.

I also  plan to open the hives up this weekend to do a proper early spring inspection and also to remove any old frames. I left several supers on the hives over the winter as they contained some heather honey I couldn't extract.   I will be checking the brood (quality and location) and will look to remove any empty supers, especially if there are any signs of wax moth.  I hope to reduce the empty space in the hive.

The inspection will also give me a chance to see if I need to embark on any spring feeding.

In the meantime here are some photos and videos I took of the hives.  I love listening to that buzz!