The Bees are back!
- Linda
- Apr 8
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 9
Cliffe Castle Bee Blog 2025 #1
The bees are back! A very chilly, frosty, return on 7 April at 7am, for Steve and I to transfer the bees from their winter poly nucleus box to our wooden observation hive at Cliffe Castle for the new season.
Our queen from last year, Bee-yonce, is marked with a pale green dot. She has laid eggs over four frames so far and these are becoming larvae that will develop into new bees when their nursery cells are capped over.
If you come along to see the observation hive you will be able to see the velvety looking pale brown cell cappings on some of the frames and, if you look carefully at open cells on these frames, you might see a larva curled up in a cell, or even a teeny-tiny egg.
During the Cliffe Castle Easter event on Saturday 12 April (11am to 3pm), you can chat with a beekeeper by the hive, as Emma, Andy and John have all volunteered for the job that day. Do call by to say hello if you can.
Here’s a picture of the colony a couple of weeks ago, when they were still at our ABKA Apiary in their winter quarters. They were busy eating some sugar fondant to keep their strength up!