Despite the atrocious summer we’ve been having here in Edinburgh, the bees have somehow managed to hang on, more or less, with minimal intervention on my part.
A quick inspection today told me that the last of the 4 nucs I brought on in the spring was still nice and strong, though needed a good feed, as foraging has been non-existent in the rain. 2 of my hives (Amelia and Yasmin) are nice and strong, and though light on stores, most bees coming in the front door are carrying white and blue pollen (himalayan balsam and rosebay willow herb) so shouldn’t need feeding unless rain continues.
Both of these hives have 3 supers on, and the bees are up in them drawing them out, so I’m hopeful that a dry August might get them filled for me! Either way, I might have swarms from one or both of these hives, so late nucs are a possibility.
The final hive (Willow) has been weak ever since a supersedure attempt failed. I think I’ll be checking for a queen (though I think she’s missing) next week and merging the nuc into this hive to get one strong colony out of it before the winter arrives.
