Flying bees ???

The weather was just warm enough today for the bees in my stronger hives in the allotment apiary to be flying again.

This winter it seems that only my strongest colonies have survived. The smaller colonies and late swarms that didn't manage to build up their numbers up in time to build up good stores in the brood frames have not made it through the winter.

Fondant on top of the crown boards has been half consumed but the prolonged cold has prevented the bees getting to the food that isn't in the frames already. Or it was just too cold for a small cluster of bees to stay warm enough. Either way the critical mass of bees needed to be high for the bees to survive such prolonged freezing weather.

The small colonies that I merged with other bees do seem to be OK.

In the allotment Bill's bees near the greengage tree are by far the strongest colony and are flying much more than the others. Even in less than perfect conditions it always Bill's bees that have a few bees flying in and out of the entrance.