The Apiary in February

Magnolia in bloom

The behaviour of bees is highly dependent on temperature and weather conditions. While February may offer fleeting moments of gentle weather, it's best to resist the urge to open up the hive. Doing so could have potentially detrimental consequences for the colony's well-being.

As winter progresses, the food supplies for bees may gradually dwindle, causing concern for many beekeepers who wonder if their colonies will make it through to the spring. The occasional mild day in February may allow the bees to venture outside for nourishment from early-blooming flowers like daffodils, crocuses, and snowdrops. If your bees return with pollen, it's an encouraging sign on multiple fronts. Firstly, it suggests that suitable forage is available in the surrounding area. Secondly, it indicates that the larvae receive fresh pollen, which is crucial for their growth and development.

Observing the state of your fondant can serve as a valuable indicator of the honey reserves in your hives. If the fondant remains untouched, it's a visual confirmation that sufficient honey stores are still available for the bees. However, if you notice an absence of fondant on the crown board, it's worth peering into the hole to determine if the bees are present. If they are, it's a sign that it's time to feed them.

Feeding your bees can be an effective strategy if you want to give your colonies a solid start to the new season. Dandelions are a rich source of pollen and nectar, so tracking when they typically emerge in your local area is essential. Six weeks before the start of the dandelion season, the eggs that will eventually become foragers will have hatched and matured. This means that it can be beneficial to provide your bees with warm 1:1 syrup on mild days. This syrup can help stimulate egg laying and replenish the bees' stores.

As the days gradually become longer, it's a good idea to take some time to tidy up your apiary. This can involve trimming the area's overgrown bushes, trees, or weeds. In some cases, simply raking in front of the hives can make a noticeable difference. Choosing a colder day to do this work is recommended to minimise the chances of accidentally disturbing your bees.

This is also an opportune time to assess your boxes and equipment. Determine whether you plan to use them again next season, and if so, take the necessary steps to repair, repaint, and refresh them. Alternatively, if you aren't using certain items again, consider recycling, reducing, re-purposing, or donating them to other needy beekeepers.

Planning can be incredibly beneficial for beekeepers, and luckily, many have access to multiple BBKA branches near their homes. Review their websites and see what talks and training events they have scheduled for the year. Indoor branch meetings and talks typically occur earlier and later, so they can easily be worked around tending to your bees during the summer months. Be sure to also mark the BBKA Spring Convention and the National Honey Show on your calendar.

Consider ordering replacement brood frames and acquiring the necessary equipment to rear a new colony of bees this year. This can help you have a reserve colony for yourself or as a potential option to sell or give away to others.

As you prepare for the new beekeeping season and replace your record cards, take some time to review them. Look over the records to see which bees were the gentlest, which required minor interventions and treatments, and which colonies were the most productive in the honey crop, minus syrup supplements.

Identifying these bees can be incredibly useful for rearing a new colony. Bees adapted to your local conditions can make beekeeping much easier and more sustainable. Consider selecting these bees as potential candidates for rearing a new colony.

As the days grow longer and milder, the queen bee's egg-laying rate steadily increases. The rate can be further stimulated by a natural, substitute, or supplemental pollen and syrup brought into the hive by the forager bees. However, with the larvae consuming a lot of fuel and food, the reserves in the hive may become depleted faster in February than in January.

If you notice some dead bees close to the hive's entrance, it may be a sign of hygienic behaviour, where the bees can leave the cluster and perform some housekeeping duties. However, many dead bees inside or outside the hive could indicate disease or starvation. At this time, beekeepers need to wait and observe their bees.