MARCH 2002
An early inspection of the super frames stord over Winter in the garage revealed that we had had a visitor. A neatly cut hole in the top box showed where a mouse had got in. Several frames had been ruined as the mouse had made itself a nice nest for the Winter... Oh well we will have to be more vigilant in future. (A live mammal trap set by Paul soon caught the culprit who was later released far enough away not to get back and cause more damage).
Mouse
"breaking & entering" 
An unseasonally warm, dry spell of weather early in the year meant the
bees were already very actively buzzing by March and so it was on March
29th, Good Friday, that we made our first inspection of the hives.
All 6 hives appear to have survived the Winter but the colony in Hive
2 is not very active with very little new brood. Hive 4, however, is already
quite powerful and are becoming quite aggressive. We shall have to do
something about this colony.
Therefore, Spring cleaning of all the hives can begin in earnest.
A "before and After" shot of hive 4 with its
new floor and Brood box
