🐝 🐝 Bee alert … June 🐝 🐝
Thunder and drizzle herald the start of June … so much for “blazing”. But the oil seed rape is over and we must harvest asap. This honey can set fast and very hard, so you’ll want to extract it from your precious super combs before it sets!
Key tasks for June:
continue weekly inspections
ensure space in brood boxes for queens to lay – colonies may still be growing
ensure space in supers for nectar – so it’s not filling up the brood frames
If queen cells are started, split your colony OR if you would like to prevent swarming, split your colony (ideally with the nucleus method: see here). Beware the ‘June gap’ which, following a cool Spring, may be slight this year. Generally, it is around the third week of June when the Spring flowers have died back, and the Summer ones are not yet offering nectar. If the bees have little honey stored, and especially if the weather turns nasty, there is a real risk of starvation. So be vigilant in case they need supplementary feeding (supers removed).
