Bees in January | Adventuresinbeeland’s Weblog

And so we’re in 2022… one other 12 months for us… however the first and solely winter for my bees. Huddled of their nest, resting their wings, winter bees are likely to dwell longer than summer time bees. However nonetheless their life-span is measured in months, not years.

On any dry day this winter, my colony has continued to be energetic, flying and discovering yellow and orange pollens. Within the picture under (taken every week or so in the past) I’ve discovered one returning with vivid orange pollen. I am not seeing a lot in flower, so am unsure what this is likely to be. Presumably willow or mahonia? Gorse flowers all 12 months spherical right here, however I hardly ever see bees on that. Bristol beekeepers have pollen information displaying the UK pollens obtainable in several seasons: Pollen information

I did an oxalic acid trickle over the Christmas holidays to deal with for varroa (the bees weren’t feeling in a Christmassy spirit in the direction of me!).

They nonetheless have loads of fondant up above the crown board. I see a few of them nibbling away at it once I test on them each couple of weeks. I additionally discover wooden lice and the occasional slug having fun with the heat above the colony.

One thing that stunned me just lately was seeing honey bees visiting the moss on my roof. From my attic window I can lean out and see the totally different mosses up shut. I would by no means paid a lot consideration to moss earlier than, simply seeing all of it as delicate inexperienced lumps. It took me a short while to understand that truly just a few totally different species dwell up on the roof, with a wide range of velvety textures and shapes you’d by no means guess at wanting up from the bottom. This aspect is south going through and so even in these chilly winter months a few of them look like flowering, with tiny gentle inexperienced flowers sticking up on stalks.

Had been the bees discovering tiny quantities of nectar? Or maybe consuming from water collected within the moss? It is arduous to know.