March: the hives saw activity but the weather is too changeable to inspect the brood box

The entrance of the hive shows signs of early spring activity. Although it is too early to open for inspection in Northern Ireland, if you see around there is very little nectar flow - in fact last we eked it snowed a bit and the last two mornings the roads were quite icy; we suppose that the Queens are laying patches of eggs in the warmth of the cluster. I can see worker bees bringing their dead sisters outside and in the last two weeks of dry and mild afternoons weather worker bees have been  carrying pollen from early flowering plants.

I applied two coats of timber care in February and also filled in holes with silicone so the hives look in working order. I cannot see any drop of varroa but I have got nearly ready the frames with drone foundation to set later next month. The oxalic treatment worked very well in January, after the treatment I saw plenty of mite drop until February.

As the weather is being so changeable, I will keep the mouse guards until April (2 more weeks).

I cannot see any signs of dysentery and the bees create the usual motorways to the entrance when the weather allows, bringing loads of pollen so I guess that everything is occurring smoothly inside.

Some guys say that suits to bees a narrow entrance and the closing of the mesh floor to to conserve heat but in my hives works better a wide open entrance and a semi close mesh floor, otherwise, it gets to humid inside.

If I can, I will set upside down syrup feeders this weekend but as the forecast for the weekend is rainy I don't know if I will swap the suppers with brood box. No intention to open the brood box until I can see the trees blossoming.