Winter Beekeeping 2015/16

New Crockery Purchased to Cope with the Number of Beekeepers attending the AGM

Horse Chestnut Buds at Christmas

This weekend, the local beekeepers' branch got together for the Annual General Meeting and dinner.   If you have read more than about one of these blogs you will know already that any gathering of local branch members is a noteworthy culinary event and I don't think I could be challenged for saying that the reason that the AGM is so well supported is because the dinner is held immediately afterwards.

Last year the main item of expenditure was new teapots; this year it was new crockery to cope with the number of members wanting to attend the dinner.  Next year may mark a departure from the norm as there is a plan to purchase microscopes for members to borrow!

I could mention the inspired menu (watercress soup with a variety of artisan breads; lamb hotpot with roast potatoes and beetroot relish; a choice of trifle, cheesecake, fresh berries and chocolate roulade or cheese and biscuits; coffee and chocolates; wine, beer and water - how do they provide all this for £8 per head?) but I should focus on the main topic of conversation, namely the extraordinarily mild winter and its effect on our bees.

Everyone reports that bees are flying on an almost daily basis.  Sure, there have been some very damp days and some very windy days, which the bees don't like but with temperatures above 10C almost every day throughout the Winter so far, they are out foraging and not just popping out for a comfort break.   We can see them bringing back pollen which is good, because they need a good supply of pollen to feed to developing brood.    Pollen contains proteins, amino acids, lipids, etc in varying quantities depending on the type of pollen and a diet that includes varied pollen sources is thought to contribute to strong bees.   Maturer bees mainly eat honey.

Flowers on bloom in January

A quick tour of the garden in the last month found the following early flowers in bloom: white periwinkle, aconites and snowdrops (all in large quantities in Joe's beautiful garden next door), winter flowering honeysuckle, primroses, hellebores, cyclamen, thyme, rosemary, winter box and perennial wallflower.  Flower buds tried to open on the horse chestnut but then we had a couple of frosty days so we're hoping they have not been damaged even though they seem to have stopped opening any further for the time being.

One result of all this unseasonal bee activity is that colonies may be using their stores faster than they can replenish them because they have to fly further to find nectar.   When I visited Bob in the bee shop last month, he reported some customers buying fondant because they had some colonies that appeared to have used all their stores.  In the same apiaries, other colonies were still doing fine.   We have put fondant on all three colonies so it's there if we have a cold snap or the bees can't get out for a few days and their stores are low.  So far, they aren't using the fondant in earnest.  If there is any left at the end of the season, we can store it wrapped in sealed containers and labelled so we know which hives it came off, for next year.  Bob says fondant will keep for at least 5 years if stored properly.

Another big topic of conversation over dinner was wasps.   Douglas, who has hundreds of colonies, reported losing 20 to wasps last year.   He explained that the bees he and Robert breed are so mild tempered, they don't put up enough fight to deal with wasps and that explains a lot.    There is some hope that overwintering Queen wasps may suffer from the mild weather and run out of energy before Spring.  Sadly, though, that would affect bumble bees and solitary bees who have a similar life cycle so it's hard to wish for that fate for all of them.