Bees in a tree. Oxalic acid

Towards the end of the season Richard, one of the Dartford Beekeepers, told me that a friend of his had seen a swarm of bees hanging in a tree near the perimeter fence on our Barnehurst Apiary. In my wisdom I decided that as it was very late in the year for a swarm the report probably referred to a small long abandoned piece of comb that a ‘cast’ had drawn on the branch of a tree at one end of the apiary fence. This I had spotted some weeks earlier.

Sometime later on a routine visit to Barnehurst my friend Jimi pointed out what looked like the biggest swarm I had ever seen! Exposed, by the autumn leaf fall, they were hanging from a branch of the buddleia tree at the far end of the apiary!

I was, however, right about it being too late for a swarm, this was a large long established feral colony clustered on eight combs. The central and longest comb was twenty plus inches long, the nest was the typical rugby ball shape and they were about ten feet off the ground.

The bees, perhaps because they were so exposed, were rather aggressive and fairly quickly Jimi and I abandoned our inspection and made a strategic withdrawal.  What to do?

Equipped with veils, several layers of clothing, cycle clips (yes they were that fierce), gloves, an extending ladder and pruning gear we returned the next day to do a little pruning and to make a plan for the recovery of these bees.

Beekeepers like to boast about how challenging the collection of some swarms is, but these, OMG, an established colony, it was early October, they were more than ten feet off the ground, the nest was big and they really resented our interference. On the plus side they had built their comb on a single branch.

To cut a long story short we decided to leave the colony in situ until spring. This would mean that protection from the elements was vital. We built a rudimentary platform supporting a solid langstroth floor two brood boxes and an eke carefully placed around the nest. A roof was contrived around the branch and fitting closely over the boxes. We’re hoping that the bees will build brace comb between the existing comb and the box which was manoeuvred close to the nest. This if all goes to plan will allow us to sever the branch, lower the box and carry it off to the Dartford Apiary where the bees will be established in a more conventional hive.

Several Beekeepers have mentioned to me that their bees are still flying strongly whenever the weather warms up. The Apiary bees were on the wing quite busily on Saturday last (15th Dec.) This probably means that they're using up their stores at an increased rate compared to colder years.
Page four of November's 'BBKA News' carries a chart that suggests consumption of a colony's stores more than doubles when they are disturbed! Notwithstanding I aim to treat each colony with Oxalic acid later this year or early in 2013. We treated in February this year and had little trouble with Varroa throughout the 2012 season. They'll also be disturbed a little when each hive gets a chunk of fondant to boost their stores, maybe I'll combine these operations.
If anyone is interested in observing/helping with the administration of the Oxalic acid treatment I'll make a plan and get Kevin to put the date on the web-site.
Barry

The past season, next season, Lip Balm & e-mails.

What's your definition of an optimist? One example would be a Bee Keeper or Apiary Manager who says -    
"next season I'm going to be right on top of swarm control, I'll manage the Apiary so that the site infrastructure/equipment is all in good nick, no leaking roofs, boxes and frames ready when they're needed etc., I'll manage the Apiary so that local wild-life finds it an ideal home, the bees find shelter and forage especially early and late in the season, visitors find the setting beautiful because it looks good, smells good, and hums with life and also so that visiting Beekeepers don't feel it incumbent upon them to offer 'constructive' criticism".
     Most of the time I was way behind with making up frames and boxes and repairing equipment.  The pavilion roof leaked like a sieve.  A hosepipe ban was promised before the pond was excavated let alone lined and filled. Some would say my swarm control at this time left a little to be desired.  About seven swarms, left home along with more than a few casts (see my post dated May 30th.).  At that time we had eleven colonies on site, I could work out the percentage losses, but my maths isn't what it was, so to avoid error.....
On the plus side Colin and I managed to recover most of the swarms issuing from our own hives and were also called on to recover and re-home numerous swarms from as far afield as Gravesend and Erith. Most Beekeepers who have the opportunity to collect a swarm enjoy the challenge.  Some of ours called for a little ingenuity.The one hanging from a bough only a little thicker than your thumb where we found it necessary to support our ladder with two ropes separately tied from slender branch to slender branch deviating a few degrees each time and eventually lashed to a trunk. Then there was the St John the Baptist church in Erith, the entrance to the nest right in the apex of the roof  thirty five feet up and above the ceiling in a space where no one had set foot for many a year and pleasingly, for reasons that escape me, they were probably workmen like Colin and I.  We also found it gratifying to supply bees, (swarms or feral colonies) to schools and novice Beekeepers almost always through the good offices of our Chairman Bill Mundy.  Throughout the season Colin and I managed to raise a 'handful' of Queens, from the many Queen cells appearing in our hives, in the same way these found homes with members of Dartford Beekeepers group and others who had Queenless colonies.  Later in the season after Bill Mundy had eased a little cash out of the Council's coffers in the form of a grant, Colin single-handedly re-configured and re-covered the shed and Pavilion roofs.  I finished the excavation of the pond just before the hose pipe ban and because there was no cash for a pond liner installed a thick plastic 'damp course' in it's place.  The pond was filled on the night before the ban on the use of hose pipes came into force.

The Bole wall under construction

Bill Mundy came up with the idea that on the boundary of the Apiary garden we could build a wall with six inserts, 'boles', to contain 'Skeps' or straw hives.  Colin volunteered to manage the project and his friend Peter, a Master Bricklayer volunteered to undertake the design and building. Following Peter's advice we obtained clay fired bricks, bags of lime and cement and sand all of which are the same as the materials an Elizabethan bricklayer would have used. Members laboured to bring tons of material the half mile from Marcet road, (well 200 yds anyway), onto site and Peter and Colin built the wall.  The bond or pattern of the bricks and the lime mortar is identical to that which you would have encountered hundreds of years ago.  I'm rather fond of telling visitors that the wall is all that remains of an ancient Monastery.  They don't all believe me.
This year we entered the Kent Wildlife Garden competition and won a gold award. The judges were also so impressed by the whole Tredegar Allotment site that they awarded us a plaque for "the best Community Garden in Kent". At the award ceremony in Sevenoaks Richard and Julie, who run the Tredegar wildlife plots, gave a brilliant talk on how wildlife has been central to the development of the Tredegar site and how others could emulate our success.
This year we celebrated 100 years of Beekeeping in Dartford.  The Lord Mayor and her deputy and the leader of Dartford council attended a special Apiary open day along with a good number of local residents.
Our honey harvest was pretty poor but Bill Mundy reckons we could make about £400 on sales of the same.

The hornet is carving a chunk of fresh goat meat for her young here

Attention all Beekeepers! The Asian Hornet is expected to take up residence in the UK in the near future, no doubt arriving in the South East first. We've made up a few traps for the Bedonwell Apiary and if all beekeepers do the same numbers may be kept to a minimum.

Barry

These photos of the Asian hornet were taken in Nepal

The goat has been butchered for only about 5 minutes

One hundred years of Beekeeping in Dartford

Everything went more or less as per the masterplan except for the weather and a slight overestimate of the number of Hot dog buns needed. A good number of people, the Apiary was at full capacity for most of the day, came to see us and find out what Dartford Beekeepers are all about. The Mayor, her Deputy and the leader of the Council turned up and stayed long enough to give the very definite impression that they enjoyed their visit finding plenty to interest and entertain them. The Bee Bole wall turned out to be a great talking point. I thought I'd posted this on the Blog ages ago, the do was on the 7th July, I can't think of an excuse off hand but there must be a good reason, old age perhaps.

Barry

What's on on Wednesday?

Well, There'll be more chocolate cake (with whipped cream) than Colin and I can handle. There'll be an update on the "Centenary do" on the 7th and what needs to be done to make the "Spectacular" spectacular.  We've nucs, Apideas and mini nucs all of which need to be united or otherwise disposed of so that on the day visitors can tour the Apiary.  There are plants to plant and tidying to be tackled and of course someone needs to make the tea!  Any Dartford Beekeepers, in fact any one at all who wants to contribute to the preparations for our "100 Years of Beekeeping in Dartford do" and is at a loose end is welcome. Bring your gardening gloves.  I'll be bringing my computer so anyone who wants to peruse our hive records, even the embarrassing ones, will be able to do so and to ask any questions they want.  There are a couple of projects pending and some under-way.  There'll be a lot of "Bee talk" and your ideas on what to do and how to do it to achieve our short or long term goals are welcome.
Wednesday then, (4th July), Colin and I will be there by 10.00am.
Barry

Don't panic and carry on.

Help. Has anyone got an hour to spare, any time on Friday or on Saturday morning? We,ve got a few outstanding jobs on the Apiary-

Major tidying of the Apiary site (just imagine your grandson held his eighteenth birthday party on the Apiary- yes that bad), housekeeping in the Pavillion and sheds, seedlings and cuttings to be planted out, the "lecture lawn" to be mown, paths strimmed, flower beds weeded, the pond topped up (no hose pipes connected to the mains water remember), routine hive inspections, varroa treatment (biotechnical - recommended to be done in June), tidying the sheds, repairs to equipment and brood and super frames to be made up (this is urgent). Then there’s the Pavillion roof, the battery pit and the water storage and distribution system but they can wait a bit.

OMG!

Apart from the urge to help with the tasks above there is a good reason to visit the Apiary. The Bole wall is finished and this you’ve got to see! The brickwork is in an antique style, the kiln fired bricks carefully chosen, the mortar made with lime and the pointing done with a block of wood and a brush just as it was in Elizabethan times. There are six Boles, carefully modelled on those in photographs supplied by William Mundy and the whole thing is topped by a tiled roof. Note also the recess for a dedication plaque in the top left hand corner. Not shown in the photo, which was taken before the completion of the project is the hard standing, brick paving, and a 3'6" retaining wall/seat at right angles to and on the left of the Bole wall. Colin was the project manager. The master bricklayer Peter gave his labour free and Colin kept him supplied with muck and did the pointing. Jim, Roy and his son, Richard and his daughter and I carried the materials across the car park and bridge, (I was wrecked), and stacked it ready for use. The job was completed well within budget and the time allotted. Personally I am very very impressed and I think you will be as well!

Barry

Swarms, with good management.......May 30th

It's 0930 on Monday 30th May, a beautiful sunny late spring morning, I’m on the Apiary, there’s a buzz in the air and the gentle breeze is delicately scented. Could there be better start to our day?  Well, yes, if the buzz were not so very loud, if the delicately scented air were not full of bees pouring out of hive four and if there were not five other swarms hanging from shrubs and trees in and around the garden. 

 Three of the swarms were hanging from trees beside the rail track near the Apiary gate, one was in amongst the brambles, beyond the fence facing hives one to four, one was on a plant support post adjacent to the Beehaus hive and one was hanging low down on the Buddleja  globosa .

I was first on the scene, and saw hive 4 swarming, very impressive, but by the time Colin had arrived they’d settled in the brambles on the railway embankment. At this point I was under the impression that we’d lost 4 swarms. I told Colin we had a swarm in a tree near the pond and he walked around there to see for himself.  - You’ve guessed it he spotted two swarms that I hadn’t seen!

Before Colin arrived on site I had also spotted a swarm rising from one of Mick Brown’s hives and they quickly settled within 15 metres of said hive.  Colin and I decided that this swarm had priority as we wanted to avoid any alarm amongst the allotment gardeners nearby. We ‘tooled up’ for the collection, veils, collecting box, a five frame Nuc, smoker etc. but by the time we’d got there, barely 5 minutes later, they’d absconded to some unknown location.  One down and back to the Apiary.

The swarm on the Globosa and the Solanum support were easily accessible and very quiet so we decided to start with those in the trees.  We tackled the bees on the highest perch first, and with some juggling and a precarious balancing act that would have impressed Billy Smart, successfully recovered it.  Next those on the Solanum support frame, a doddle, quickly and happily into a 5 frame nuc, but by this time, much to our surprise The two swarms in the other tree, those on the Globosa and those in the brambles had all absconded!  4 – 2 to the Bees!

To pre-empt swarms from 5 and 8 we attempted the Modified Snelgrove manoeuvre on them.  For this you have to find the Queen.  On 5 we couldn’t find her and so performed a Demaree where all the bees are in the lower Brood chamber (with the Queen) and all the brood is above a Queen excluder in a new chamber.  The day was rounded off successfully on hive 8 where we found the Queen and were thus able to carry out the intended Snelgrove operation.

Excuses?  Not many, the weather’s been  cold and rainy, we’re short of brood boxes to perform artificial swarms and Colin and I have had other commitments at inconvenient times.  A pretty dismal management performance really but hopefully lessons have been learnt and next year will be a glorious success. 

“What’s the time Colin”?  “7:15 pm” was the reply! 

What a day, where did the time go?

They say we learn by our mistakes, by the end of this season I should qualify as a genius!

Barry

Activities, Saturday our first open day of the season..

We've received some very interesting plants for the pond, (Kevin and Colin again), and they were planted in the pond on Saturday last our first "Apiary open day of the season". This was the first sighting of the Apiary garden this year for many of our members and we received some very gatifying compliments. Anyone with ideas on how we can make the garden more attractive and or bee/wildlife friendly and wants influence the way it's growing, (forgive the pun), is welcome to join Colin and I on our regular maintenance days, Wednesday and Saturday starting at about 10.00 am to somewhere between 1 and 3 pm.  Phone either, Colin on 07890074454, or me on 07427431108, just to make sure we're there and again when you reach the allotment gates to gain admission, (the Tredegar Allotment Assoc. keeps them locked to deter vandals and so the Apiary is completely isolated from the public footpath).
On Friday Colin and I decided we'd use the use the swarm control method described by Ken Basterfield in the April issue of Beecraft, (pages 9 to 12).  Although there was a sealed Q. cell present we decided that they probably hadn't swarmed because the hive was still very heavily populated.  We duly opened the hive (H3) and searched for the Queen.  As with most swarm control methods you must first find the Queen.... You've guessed it, we couldn't find her, so because we couldn't find the Queen we decided to perform a "Demaree" for which all the bees are shaken over foundation in one brood box which is separated from another brood box, (containing all the brood including the sealed Q. cell but no bees), by a Queen Excluder.  The theory is that the nurse bees come up through the Q. Excl. to cover the brood leaving the queen and foraging bees below, more or less as they would be if they had swarmed.   On Saturday after most of our guests had left Colin and I with the knowledge of where the Queen was carried out the original Ken Basterfield  manoeuvre.
Today, Monday 16th, we inspected H1, H2, H8 and the Beehaus and in all of them except H1 we spotted the Queen!  Wouldn't you know it!
I'm going to see if I can append the Hive records to this blog so that members know what's going on in the Apiary.  They're on an Excel spread sheet.
Barry

The Pond and early swarming

The pond is excavated, lined and filled. We just beat the hosepipe ban (4th April) and now we need plants! The good thing about aquatic plants is that they're beautiful to look at, they're easy to cultivate, easy to look after and they multiply rapidly, the bad thing is they cost "an arm and a leg". If any of our readers have a pond and can spare anything we have a good home for it. The day after the pond was filled there were water boatmen and at least one aquatic beetle in residence.  Sparrows were frolicking around the shallows and the bees were making good use of damp soil around the fringes and the boggy area, for their colony water supplies.
So far this year on the Apiary, I've seen Red Admiral, Peacock, Speckled wood (I think), Large White and Brimstone butterflies.  Numerous Bumble bees have been spotted foraging or hunting down a good nest site and also a couple of Queen wasps. We've seeded around the pond, grass and crimson clover, and I've sown various wild flowers in modules that we'll be able to plant around it in two or three weeks time. Colin and I are hoping to impress the visitors to our first Apiary open day on the 14th April. Fingers crossed!
As a point of interest both Colin and I have noticed, at least at this time of year, that even when they are not foraging for nectar or pollen there are always bees collecting water!  This is very noticeable on the Apiary because the main path leading to the Hives passes the bees favourite, on site, water source.  The bees also use the path in question to fly to and from the water source.  Hopefully visitors won't be alarmed.  Personally I love it.  For me a warm sunny day is made even balmier by the sound of honey bees buzzing busily about their business.  (Is there too much alliteration there?)
I inspected hives 1 and 2 yesterday (Friday)  and they were very strong, plenty of brood in all stages including drone and plenty of stores.  In H1 I found an open queen cell with a larva in it, it's been 4 or 5 days  from when the egg was laid, at a guess.  As there's only one cell this could mean supercedure and we are pretty early in the swarming season. To be on the safe side I'm going to carry out the artificial swarm manoeuvre described in this month's Beecraft.  So let's hope the weather is on my side tomorrow or on Monday.
Barry

Water

Last Saturday 10 March we held the last of Dartford Beekeepers winter meetings at the Asda warehouse. Terry Clare delivered a talk on "Queen rearing for the small Beekeeper".  The talk was very well received by the members and especially Colin Mann and I as we hope to rear a few Queens on the Apiary this season and we appreciate any help and guidance we can get.  Here are a few of the tips the speaker gave us:-

 Always practice good hygiene, keep tools in a solution of soda crystals and water. If anyone has trouble finding a supplier local to them try the hardware shop on Temple Hill in Dartford, that's where I got mine.  If your tools are kept in a container full of this solution and returned to it when not in use they will be clean and sterile at all times.  Rubber marigold type gloves are recommended as these will protect you from the soda solution and against stings to some extent. Another good practice is to wash your bee suit regularly to remove disease pathogens and alarm pheromones so that you don't transmit disease or prompt aggressive behaviour from you bees when you next open a hive.  The speaker also advocated the use of Oxalic acid at the appropriate time of year, and noted that the acid solution should be clear and not yellow, as ours was this year on the Apiary!!  I asked him his opinion of the efficacy of icing sugar dusted over the bees as a means of varroa control.  He says or at least implied that he's not impressed and doesn't use it himself.

Amongst many other interesting and useful tips Mr. Clare also suggested that we should consider misting with water in a hand-spray, instead of using smoke, if looking for the queen - she won't run away so fast, also neighbourhood drone culling amongst local beekeepers with a mutual interest  in the quality of their replacement Queens and various methods of feeding the colonies that are light on stores.  One method of feeding is to immerse a bag of granulated sugar, with a few holes punched in the front, for 3 seconds in water.  I tried this technique as soon as I got home from the meeting but left the bags submerged for 5secs - result, unusable mush! Next time I'll give it strictly 3 seconds.  A member of the audience at the meeting told us that she had approached a super-market and asked if they would let her beekeepers association have any broken bags of sugar accrued by the store, (they are unsaleable to the general public).  She said the manager was pleased to find a good use for the sugar and now saves it for them!  On my way back from the lecture I popped into my local Tesco store and sure enough the manager, a young lady, said yes Dartford Beekeepers could have their damaged bags.  Result!

I have downloaded "The Stud Book" from BIBA's website.  This is the record sheet recommended by our speaker.  Go to http://www.bibba.com/pdf_files.php where you can download an Excel file to see what records he recommends.

I've hung two Asian hornet traps in the apiary complete with bait,(pork meat).  They're of a design circulated by Bill Mundy which I've modified very slighty.  Most beekeepers expect the Asian Hornet to arrive in the UK sooner or later and trapping the new queens before they've had a chance to establish a colony, in early spring, has to be a good idea. Today and yesterday I planted about 8 shrubs (I can't remember the exact number), they were very kindly donated by Kevin.  The shrubs are carefully selected to give long months of flower and also for their value to wildlife specifically bees and butterflies.

On Friday night I'm prepping a hive for relocation in an out apiary in Barnehurst.  After a couple of weeks there we'll bring it back to Dartford and place it about 20m from where it sits right now.  The old adage says "never move a hive more than 3 foot or less than 3 miles".

Barry

Recently on the Apiary...

On Thursday 23^rd Feb. I saw my first Peacock and Red Admiral butterflies. Numerous Bumble bees are to be seen engaged in searching for nest sites. Presumably they’re finding enough nectar nearby to keep fuelled up for their nest building. Our honey bees are collecting plenty of pollen and presumably nectar from somewhere.  The bees have been fed with fondant, at the end of January, and look to be in good shape for the coming season, (I’m touching wood as I write).  Last Monday I spotted a couple of Blue-tits investigating one of the newly cleaned bird-boxes.  Crocuses of various colours are in full bloom, the yellow varieties have been out for a couple of weeks now. They make quite a show and the bees really appreciate the pollen. Talking of early flowers popular with the bees, the Hellebore has been in bloom for a couple months and still has buds on it. It seems even more popular than crocus.   This year plenty of bulbs have gone in, we should have an excellent display this year but an even better next year.     Colin and I have done a little welding and remounted the gates to the apiary. Colin has come up with the idea of cladding them in wood which will look a lot better. I’m making up a few Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina), traps. There’s a plan of how to make an Asian Hornet trap on the BBKA website which I’ve followed with one slight mod. If you want to see how they’re made there’ll be a couple hung up around the Apiary soon. I fancy that it’s possible that the south east counties will see the Hornet first in the UK and the obvious time to trap them is before last year’s queens establish new colonies in the spring.  When Colin and I were in Nepal we saw a goat slaughtered as part of a festival occasion. Within two or three minutes of the animal being butchered Hornets were feeding on the meat, so I shall be baiting the traps with raw meat. On the 1^st May we placed Varroa counting sticky sheets on the Varroa trays of hives 1,2,3&4 and I removed them on the 2^nd. There was one Varroa mite between the four hives! That's what I call a result.

Barry

Spring is just around the corner!

So far this year we've treated the bees with oxalic acid to combat varroa, fed the bees, all colonies, and removed the paving slabs from under the hives.  We were recommended to remove the slabs and leave the mesh floors open so that any varroa dropping through it would fall all the way to the ground and not be able to crawl back into the hive.   Despite the suggestion, from well respected sources, that open mesh floors are ok even in the dead of winter I can't bring myself to leave the colonies so exposed and I've decided to leave the sliding varroa trays in place until spring is with us.  The pond is fully excavated and lined with a pretty substantial carpet. A waterproof liner, butyl is the best I'm told, has not yet been sourced although Bill Mundy is busy looking for a sponsor. The roof felt on all our buildings is springing minor leaks and must be replaced as soon as possible, Bill Mundy is on this case as well.  Colony No. 8 has been lost.  On inspection there were accessible stores but very few bees.  All other colonies seem strong and healthy, as far as I can tell, I'm touching wood as I write and hoping that we'll get through the winter with 11 strong colonies!
Barry

The Asda warehouse and headless bees

On Saturday 4th Feb Bob Smith entertained and informed a group of Dartford Beekeepers in one of the excellent meeting rooms at the Asda Warehouse (Dartford).  His talk was on checking your bees for acarine and Nosema, two common problems affecting the Honey Bee.  He brought the instrument kits and microscopes needed, about 12, and we supplied 50 or so bees collected that morning from the Top Bar hive at the Apiary.  To check for Acarine which is a v. small mite which lives in the trachea, or airway, of the first spiracle we first had to decapitae a bee and then remove a strip of the collar of it's thorax.  The trachea are now visible under a dissection microscope at  a magnification of about 40x.  The mite infestation shows up as discoloured areas where the healthy trachea is clear and transparent.  To check for Nosema we ground up the abdomen of a few bees and added a little water.  Slides were made up using a drop of this solution and inspected at 400x magnification.
I for one was inspired to learn a little more about bee diseases in my spare time and I would be quite confident of identifying Acarine and Nosema.

Barry

Saturday hefting the hives and making a list of things to do

Today Colin and I will be checking to see that the hives have sufficient stores, ("hefting"), planting bulbs, I've had another consignment of Daffodils delivered unexpectedly and we'll be walking the site to see what work needs to be done and how urgently.  I understand that Bill Mundy is trying to get another grant for replacing the Pavilion roof and possibly the pond liner. When and if we get the funding those jobs will move to the top of our "to-do" list. We also have to move the paving slabs that our hives sit on to obviate the problem of Varroa mites climbing back in after they've fallen off their hosts and through the mesh floor, the bulbs are on-going, another "blackberry attack" is due as quite a few are sprouting where they're not wanted, once the pond is lined and filled we'll be looking to plant up the pond, (if you've got a pond and can spare any aquatic plants we're in the market), new plantings to enhance the Apiary garden are always at the back of our mind, the Battery Pit needs to be lined and roofed,  there's always weeding and pruning to be done and of course there's always equipment maintenance and repair.  Phew!

Barry

Oxalic acid, application and efficacy.

On Saturday 7th Jan Colin and I duly treated the Bees on the Apiary to an Oxalic acid bath.  We planted bulbs, only a few left to go in now.  Today Sun 15th Colin and I checked the varroa trays and there has been quite a good drop, at a very rough estimate, 3 or 4 mites  per square inch.
On Wednesday next we'll be lining the pond with carpet, it's a cheaper option than sand or the commercial equivalent but perfectly adequate.  Hefting the hives to check on what stores are available to the bees is another job and then there's the bulbs.

Barry

Next Saturday, winter Varroa treatment with oxalic acid and planting bulbs.

Anyone interested in the Oxalic acid Varroa treatment will be welcome on the Apiary next Saturday.  They'll be especially welcome if they've carried out the procedure themselves as this will be the first attempt by Colin or I and were not too proud to take advice.  There are also crocus, snowdrops, winter aconites and anemone blanda bulbs to go in.  If all the bulbs flower in the spring we should have an attractive and forage rich apiary.  Last year I planted a few daffodils, anemones and crocus and they went in in mid February.  They flowered beautifully if a little late and the bees made good use, especially of the crocus where they collected plenty of pollen.
Barry