Bees Buds and Blossom

First Blossom

Bumble Bee

Honey Bees

Spring is finally here.

The buds are getting bigger and the blossom is starting to bloom. That's obvious as the pictures show. The ground is still a bit wet and the muddy in places.

The grass is also looking brown as some of the older grass is had dried and died out. The young shoots are coming up.

On the down side a couple of horses have been in and had a wander round.


The pictures also show the bees all the hives in the orchard have done well. On a couple I have seen 5/6 frames of bees s they have done very well. I can also see the eggs and the larvae coming through. I will have the supers on the hives by the end of the week. I want to get them on sooner so as to deter them from swarming.

The bumble bees have also started appearing.

At the moments its just the queens that are rearing the next generation.

Start of spring

Daffodils starting to come into bloom

 Its the start of spring and the 40 Kgs of daffodils that I planted back in the autumn months have started to come into blossom. They are are nice. They also brighten up the orchard floor this time of year. They aren't bee friendly  and they are also poisonous but make the place nice.

Mole Mounds

The past couple of weeks have produced a large number of mole mounds and hills, near the entrance of the orchard. I see them most years, and its also good to see them. I always worry when parts of the orchard are flooded cold that the moles will survive.

Crocuses starting to Bloom

The crocuses are also coming out and they also add lots of colour and they are more bee friends however I need to get more planted later this year for spring next year.

I have started putting suppers on the hives, but as yet not on the hives in the orchard. Its been a busy couple of weeks study for the retake of the Module three British Beekeepers exam and a recent trip to India where I saw Apis Cerana, Aps Florea and Apis Dorsata bees.

Bees starting to come out

The bees at the orchard are also getting ready for the coming year, I have seen them coming and going however I have not yet checked the brood. However will when we get a couple of days of good weather.
I did attended the BeeTradex show on the 7th March and have bought a couple of bits for this year. However I still need to get a couple of bits and more on that in the next couple of blog entries.