A month in the Apiary - January

The bees are really hunkered down now, not wanting to leave their warm, cosy hives and who can blame them. It has mostly been dreary and very wet here in Fletching and Piltdown. We did have that extremely cold snap where everything froze in December and apparently there’s another one due at the end of the month. Some beekeepers think this might be a good thing for the bees as they would cluster properly over a long period of time and be ready and raring to go come spring. With my luck they’ll simply give up and freeze to death! During Christmas things had warmed and the bees were mostly still clustered, but several of them needed feeding again! 12kgs of Bakers fondant was sliced up, wrapped and given to the hive.

January and February will be the time to do the varroa treatment and to start planning for the year ahead. The beekeeping season seems to come around so quickly when the start of the new year arrives, and I endeavour to be prepared.