FIRST VISIT TO THE APIARY IN 2025

FONDABEE CANDY FROM WYEFIELD APIARIES

Well, here it is, 3rd January 2025, and I am off to the apiary to check on the bees. Ok, not exactly a hive check, that would be ridiculous! I went there to check on their stores.

The weather has suddenly turned very cold after an extremely wet and yet very mild start to the winter and they are predicting snow, here in Hereford, this evening. This is where I confess to you all - I HATE SNOW - yep I know, there will gasps coming from all directions, well maybe not all, I’m sure there are many who agree with me. You see, the thing is… in this country it snows over-night; you wake up and it looks like “Winter Wonder Land” - I get all excited, go outside with the dog, make video’s of her catching snow balls, load them on to instagram and facebook, then, after about 3 or four hours it rains and all you are left with is slush, which ices over, leaving us with treacherous walking and driving conditions. There you have it, now you know why I have such a profound dislike of snow in England!

I digress, as always. So, where was I? Ah yes I was off to the apiary to check on the bees.

At this time of year it’s important to not be complacent, i.e., don’t rest on your laurels and think to yourself that when you left the bees to their own devices in November with a nice hefty hive, they have enough to get through to March.

No sir. These ladies have been out flying. We’ve had a mild winter up until now. Yes it’s been wet but when the rain has stopped, those girls have been out flying. I’ve seen them! But what have they been bringing back? Very little. (We’ve even had rape seed starting to grow in December. God forbid they’ve been bringing that back to the hive because that will have gone hard by now and be of no use to them whatsoever.). My point being, that when the girls fly, they use up energy. And, bringing little or nothing home with them they will have been digging into their stores to build themselves back up.

Bearing all this in mind, they will definitely be needing some help. That help comes in the shape of Fondant Icing. It’s not the same as you get from the supermarket. It’s a special Bee Fondant. I use Fondabee Candy which I get from https://www.wyefieldapiaries.co.uk/ - other stores are available - but I thought I’d give them a shout out!

Feeding the honeybees with fondant provides them with essential energy during the lean winter months and is easy for bees to consume. Its solid consistency means it can be placed directly on hive frames, in the spring, or, either in the bags they come in on top of the crown board, or decanted into smaller plastic containers and placed on top of the crown board in the winter, without creating any mess which could attract predators. We can’t always be sure that our bees will get through the winter but by supplemental feeding - it is a way for beekeepers to support their bees during times of need.

Below is a video of me checking the bees today. Two hives were ok and one needed their fondant replaced.

So, my first post of the year. ‘Short and sweet’ - I hear you cry - (no pun intended - sweet? fondant? - Oh well!

I hope you managed to get through Christmas without exhausting yourselves or catching a cold. There’s been a lot of unpleasant viruses around our area that’s for sure. It can be a tough time for many people as much as a joyous time for others. But here we are, again, a new year and the honeybees and other pollinators are biding their time until the spring, when they can once again leap into action and pollinate our flowers, one at a time, bringing life and hope to us all.

Lots of exciting things are in the air for me and my girls… so keep an eye on my blog… In the words of Karen Carpenter… “we’ve only just begun.”