External inspection

Had a look today - plenty of activity in and out and pollen being brought into the hive - pale and bright yellow so must be from more than one plant. They must be so good at finding it - I don't see many flowers out at the moment - a few crocuses, snowdrop but no dafodils yet. They are taking the fondant and have eaten about half of one tub. Looks like plenty of bees in there.

Winter feeding

By now, the queen should be being brought in to lay again by the workers. This means big changes in the hive: winter bees can survive with a cluster temperature of as low as 65 F but once eggs and larvae are present a much higher temperature of around 90 F is required. So, the workers need to consume more stores in order to maintain that level of heat. Consequently, if they are low on their own stores of honey they can starve. 3 weeks ago I gave Genesis some sugar fondant - 2 Chinese takeaway sized tubs over the holes in the cover board. When I checked 2 weeks ago they were feeding on it and there were plenty of bees in the hive. I will check them again this weekend and see how much they are taking. I hope they will be bringing some pollen in themselves soon as they need that to make new bees!