Beekeeper’s Notes March 2017: Stop Press – Hive Roof Blown Off In High Wind

Published on: 1 Mar, 2017
Updated on: 1 Mar, 2017

Hugh Coakley keeps bees in Worplesdon. In the latest of his monthly notes, he talks about winter travails.

We have had a few days this year so far when we could be fooled into thinking that spring is with us.

Not so. Lots of harbingers. Snow drops are with us now and the daffodils look to be just about ready to come out in their innocent glory.

Roof blown off the polystyrene hive leaving the bees exposed to the wind and rain. Luckily, the crownboard just below the roof stayed in place because the bees had sealed it with their sticky propolis so they weren’t badly affected.

But the cold and the rain and wind is still with us. The Guildford Beekeepers at Birtley last year had several hives fully blown over. Not much fun for the bees who generally survived but neither for the beekeepers who were righting the hives in gale force winds with angry bees as company.

This can be made worse with the new polystyrene hives, very well insulated and practical but light. One of my hives had the roof blown off last week. It exposed them to the elements for a couple of days I think but they seem to be ok. I have weighted it down with bricks to keep the lid on. Not exactly front page news but it must be a slow news month!

With all the seasonal wind, rain and cold, cold weather, the bees are still managing to get out occasionally to forage and are bringing in pollen. A good sign indicating that the queen is probably laying.

So, fingers crossed for a good start to the season.

One of my photographs was chosen by the national magazine, BeeCraft to be the front cover for the March ’17 edition. It shows a bee, laden with pollen, landing on a pure white pear blossom. It is amazing what you can do with modern, relatively cheap cameras.