Last night was very frosty but thankfully bright sunshine warmed things up today 1st March. Bees were out in force early afternoon and for the first time this season they started to bring back pollen in quantity. White (probably Hazel) and egg yolk yellow (probably snowdrop) clearly seen. Looks as though the Queen is starting to work at increasing numbers.
With flying bees out and temperatures well up I decided to check for stores. They have been overwintering in brood and a half - brood box with super ontop and no Queen excluder. Eased them fractionally apart and hefted the super. Still very heavy so reasured that feeding not yet needed.
Ivor B N Mebonnet said...
ReplyDeleteTo understand the 'hefting the super' jargon, the
http://www.windmillhillfarm.com/Honey%20Hefter%20Instructions.pdf
website could prove useful. Now it is doubtful that the likes of young H, or many of you young beekeepers possess the required 'torque wrench with a 3/8" drive' - very unlikely, I'd say - and, with serious questions about the sensitivity and repeatability of such equipment, even the electronic ones, any thought of buying a torque wrench for this purpose should be WPBed.
Having carefully freed the propolis on the front and sides of the super with my road drill, taking particular care not to break the propolis along the back, I use a spring balance to measure the weight.
Ivor B N Mebonnet (Hivard University)