It is mid February. We have had some cold days, some quite warm days, some rain and a little snow.
Snowdrops in the morning sun
When it is warm and sunny, our bees are coming out of their hive and clean house. They drag various detritus, including dead colony members out and drop it on the ground in front of the hive. This is important to keep the colony healthy. Sara took a little video last week.
Today, I saw some workers that were busy collecting pollen. They visit snow drops, the only flowers that they can find at this time in our garden. I have seen flowering witch hazel nearby, but these plants are pollinated by moths. Winter aconites are still small buds. But in a few days, they should open up, adding variety to the bee’s buffet.
This bee has collected bright yellow pollen into the basket on her leg.
We are very glad that the bees have survived the truly arctic weeks in late December and early January and seem happy and healthy. Perhaps, we will get spring honey this year!