A Month in the Apiary - January
by Nick Pendleton, Woodside Farm
For a beekeeper, January is a quiet month, nevertheless there are still several jobs that need doing.
I know the season seems such a way off, but from experience it will suddenly be upon me, and I shall be cursing all those jobs I meant to do but kept putting off!
Now, it is far too cold to take off the roof to see what is going on in the hives. I shall need to ‘Heff’ them (give them a gentle shove) to see how light they are. Food stores are the main priority so any colony that looks hungry gets fed. Ideally, the bees are all hunkered down into a tight cluster, but what we have seen a bit of this year, is colonies that are loosely clustered, meaning they are consuming slightly more food than usual and necessary. This is normally due to the mild weather.
I shall have to make sure all the hives and all the hive parts are still intact. Another crucial but quite simple task is to make sure the hive entrances are clear. Even at this time of year, bees need to be able to get in and out of the hive, particularly for cleansing flights, because this helps to prevent disease spreading inside the hive and will also keep the area ventilated. So, any dead bees blocking the entrance will be removed from the hive.
A significant Varroa mite infestation leads to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring.
The Varroa mites (a bee parasite) will need to be treated to enable the colony to get off to a good start, once the Queen starts laying again. I shall wait for some prolonged wintry weather to appear before treating for varroa because oxalic acid treatment is most effective when the colony is brood-less.
Like many members of the High Wealden BKA, I have lost several colonies already. Upon examination, there were plenty of stores, but alas, the colony had absconded. There are several possible reasons for this. Perhaps the Queen suddenly died and as the other bees died, the bodies were ejected from the hive, before those remaining, finally doing a ‘Captain Oats’ and simply leaving. Sadly, I shall never know.
On several evenings during the month, I watch Bee lectures on Zoom, regarding all aspects of beekeeping. All free and put on by Beekeeping Associations throughout the country. Unfortunately, this means I have put up with a good deal of eyeball rolling and shaking of heads. It is a respectable job I am thick skinned!