Watching and waiting...
The bees are busy foraging for nectar from the trees and flowers that are in bloom. They are still being supplemented with sugar water, which you see in the jar in the Boardman Feeder. See the two bees that are flying in for a landing?
Bees are very gentle if you respect them. I took this photo from a foot away without my bee suit on. I moved slowly, did not approach from the front of the hive, and did not breathe on the bees.
However, never approach a beehive if you don't own it!
Our bees are the Buckfast Bees breed, bred to be strong and friendly.
When the bees return and enter the hive, they do a little dance which tells the other bees where they found nectar or pollen. All bees are born knowing how to interpret this dance, which is based on the position of the sun overhead. The other bees head off as soon as they know where the goodies are to be found!
All of these worker bees are females, by the way.
A bee flies in to land. The entrance to the hive is just below the clump of bees and to the right of the Boardman Feeder - the little dark square.
Once the hive has grown in terms of population, this little entrance won't be big enough. It will be replaced with a larger opening. While the hive is growing, it must be kept small so that the low population of bees can protect the hive from any intruders or robber bees who are looking to steal supplies. It also helps keep heat in because the nights are still very cool.
Do you know the bees only go out when it is above 50 degrees?
Next week... making sure the queen is doing her job!