What's happening down in the hive?

The Ufford Park bees are now beginning to gear up for the season ahead. There is a very excited buzz coming from the hives!

Plenty of pollen and nectar is being collected and drone bees (male bees) are seen. The worker bees are busy polishing the cells to encourage the queen to step up her laying rate, to around 1,000 eggs a day, and the bee numbers in the hive should increase rapidly to around 30,000 to 40,000.

Overcrowding may soon become a danger and the bees might think of swarming especially if the weather is warm. Various measures will have to be taken to try to prevent this, but it is not always easy to stop the bees doing what comes naturally to them.

It would be much easier if the bees also read the manual and stuck to it!

Honey from the Ufford Park hives will hopefully be available from June (sticky fingers crossed!).

Sandy Sutch,
Apiarist, Ufford Park Hotel