the First Job of the Year

The bees scientists suggest that the queen honey bee starts to lay new brood in about the second week in January.  This therefore is the beginning of the laying season. I do make sure that the colonies have plenty of reserves of stores in the autumn to tide them over to the Spring.

However I have come to the conclusion that a little feeding of candy at this time of year can act as an encouragement for the colonies to build up so that they are ready for the spring flow of nectar.

So here you see the candy being put on each hive in an upturned food container.