Beekeeper’s Notes January 2016 – An Illustrated Bee Year

Published on: 1 Jan, 2016
Updated on: 25 Jan, 2016

Hugh Coakley from Worplesdon continues his monthly series with a set of stunning photos of bees taken throughout the seasons.

I thought that it would be a good idea to take a leaf out of Malcolm Fincham’s wonderful Birdwatcher’s Diary and show a set of photos of bees taken throughout the year.

The photos are taken by Susan Kimber, a talented photographer and beekeeper. Susan keeps bees in Godalming and has had her photographs published in national magazines.

A messy bee with the early pollen in February 2014.

Starting in the cold months of winter. Bees will forage at any time of the year, including the winter. It just needs to be warm and dry enough with not too much wind.

In the photo above, you will see a messy bee covered in pollen taking a well earned breather on a wire fence.

Pollen comes in all colours. You generally need a microscope to determine which plant it’s from. This yellow pollen could be willow.

Click on the photos to enlarge them to see the detail.

Bee on a white snowdrop (February 2013).

Nature at its most simple and perfect – a bee on a white snowdrop. It looks as if the stray pollen particles are floating above the surface of the flower petal. Click to get a better view.

Bee on a crocus (February 2011).

The bee in the yellow crocus is head down into the nectar. It is holding on to the flower by one back leg to get its balance.

Spring water carrier in March 2014.

Is this bee collecting water or just admiring her very pretty eyes?

Close up of a worker bee (April 2012).

Later in the year as the weather gets warmer, the bees are building up their colonies and foraging is more intense.

One characteristic of bees which separate them from other insects is the branched hairs on their bodies. The hairs collect pollen as the bees brush past. View the enlarged photo above to see just how furry it looks.

Coming in to land (April 2015).

Queuing up to land with the landing gear lowered.

There is a constant stream of bees leaving and arriving back at the hive from now to the end of the summer. The bees bring back nectar, pollen and water to feed the developing colony.

They also bring back propolis. This is a resinous substance collected from tree buds and sap. It is used for sealing up small gaps in the hive.

Flying in with a full load of pollen (April 2015).

Arriving with a full payload on board.

Collecting pollen from a rockrose (cistus) in May 2014.

This bee looks like if it collects any more pollen, it will stall on the flight home.

Perfection of the comb (May 2014).

The queen is increasing her laying on the approach to summer. You can see one day old eggs in the individual cells if you view the enlarged photo.

They look like tiny pieces of white thread in the bottom of the cells. The queen can lay 1,500 to 2,000 eggs a day. Who would be a queen?

Marked queen surrounded by her courtiers (May 2011).

Beekeepers mark queens with a painted spot on their thorax to make them easier to spot in a crowded hive. This paint marking isn’t pretty but she certainly stands out.

Swarm on buddleia (June 2013).

Swarming happens typically between May and July. The photo above is of a lovely swarm hanging from a buddleia. 10,000 to 20,000 bees waiting to find a home in handy hollow tree (or for a friendly beekeeper to collect and home it).

A near perfect frame of capped honey (June 2010).

Honey generally is collected in late summer but it can be taken off earlier.

The bees put the honey in the cells in the comb. They then cover it over with a thin film of wax to preserve it.

This frame of honey weighs about two pounds. Average annual yields from hives in the UK is about 30lbs to 40lbs per hive.

Clinging on to a honeysuckle (July 2014).

This bee is clinging on to the honeysuckle with all six legs! It looks like the bee’s proboscis has pierced the flower and it has taken a short cut to the nectar it wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise. Am I right? Click on the photo to get a better look.

Meal for three – two bees and a Red Admiral butterfly on a buddleia (August 2012).

This buddleia proves just how popular it is with insects. You can just see the second bee under the butterfly in the enlarged image.

A bumble bee gets busy on an echinacea (August 2010).

You can see the branched hairs on this bumble bee.

Wasp foraging on ivy (September 2011).

As we get into autumn and winter, nectar and pollen is not so readily available. Ivy is a very good source of food for insects including bees.

You can see in the photo above that wasps forage like bees – they don’t just live on jam sandwiches at picnics.

And then, back to winter. Snow in February is fine for the bees – they can take it. Provided they have sufficient stores in their honey larder to take them through the winter.

February snow 2012.

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