Its was a bit damp so not ideal when Asia Paul and I opened the hive yesterday so after a while the bees did get a bit tetchy. However they are still doing well, coming back with lots of pollen which is good as there's lots of larval bees to feed.
There were a few sealed drone (male) bee brood cells (rounded cells in photograph) preparing for the season when new queens might be emerging. We also saw 3 play cups, these are practice queen cells which bees always make, it doesn't mean that they are getting ready to swarm, there were no eggs in them but its a sign that the season is well under way. We took them out anyway.
We managed to spot the queen (well Paul did) see right
so didn't bother too much looking for eggs. As they were getting a bit fed up we closed the hive and replenished the syrup. A quick count on the varroa board (1) confirmed that they are not yet causing problems.
The Hebe bushes around car park G should be flowering soon so the bees should be very visable, please let me know if you spot them elsewhere on campus.
Thanks to Paul for the great photos.
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