The orchard is now rapidly changing.

Pear Leaves

Flowers on the orchard floor

The buds are opening up and leaves sprouting. Finally the ground is dry most of the water that the ground had absorbed last year has evaporated and it looks like its going to be a much dryer year. Am I going to miss the water not sure at the moment, I'm glad its finally dry and and my boots are sinking into the mud.


The blossom is opening up and I am seeing no pests on any of the fresh leaves yet. I have seen no aphids so far this year.

Ladybird looking for aphids

I think I may have lost two trees over the winter. Two of the cherries trees don't have leaves or buds sprouting which is disappointing. I will continue to leave the trees in the ground for a while and I will replace them with other trees later perhaps a chestnut tree or a oak, just to give the orchard some more bio diversity.

The bees are doing well I checked on them and saw lots of eggs and larvae and sealed brood. Its a good sign. I still need to replace the comb and will get that done once a decent nectar flow is underway. That should be pretty soon as the oil seed rape comes into flower.

Pollen in some of the excess wax.

I can see the bees are bringing in pollen which is a very good sign. That and the fact that the queen is laying is a great news. The whole season is late about 2/3 weeks but that doesn't really matter to me. This includes the blossom. I have added a super to the hives.

Sealed Brood in one of the hives