Back for another visit. Introduced a new Queen after upgrading the Nuc into a full hive. Assessed the state of readiness of nectar that has been stored so far, which is not quite ready.

I was trying to name Gwenyn Gruffydd, the Welsh Beekeeper with a great youtube channel. Sorry for misremembering his name.

A check through the Nuc with the old Queen in residence and extra supers for the huge colony. Spring bird song, tales of my visit to hear Nightingales.

Queen Cells everywhere Captain. What to do!

First inspection of the new bees. Transferred the bees to a Poly Hive, marked the Queen and made a Nuc as they had started making queen cells. In with a bang!

We are back in business. I have been lucky enough to be given some bees by my association, as a member has given up. I am feeding fondant to get them through the last of winter and can't wait to open up and see what is going on when the weather heats up.

Sad news I am afraid. I went to visit the bees over Christmas to check on food levels and hive health, but sadly the colony had collapsed. I describe what I think has happened in this episode. There are signs of spring in the countryside though, so there are optimistic moments to be had including wonderful birdsong.

Welcome back, I had a few fun edits to start the podcast but have managed to hide them on the cutting room floor somehow. Quick winter update, stores are good, no condensation on the top of the bees, all seems ok. Fingers crossed.

End of October visit. Feeders all empty and removed. Celotex bonnet on top with metal roof. Bees looking good, nice big colony.