And so it begins…

On Saturday 4th April we met in our Sutton Park Training apiary to begin the season. Unfortunately during the previous weekend we had some vandalism to our lock and gate so first job was to repair and make good. As the weather wasn’t the best for opening the hives we made a note of how many the seams of bees were present, added a queen excluder and super and renewed the crown boards. All was done with military precision, keeping hives open for as little time possible. This was a timely intervention as temperatures during the following week rose into the 20’s. We are delighted to report no winter losses from our 12 apiary colonies with many being very strong indeed.  Cleaning equipment, putting up a bait hive and meeting up with members new and old were the order of the day. the season has well and truly started!