After a string of grey days it was good to get up to signs that the clouds were breaking, but this morning's dawn across the Sound of Mull gave no real hint of how completely the sky would clear and what a beautiful day we would have, with the sun warm on our winter skins and drying the sopping ground.
But the day's biggest surprise came from the two white heather bushes in the garden, which have flowered determinedly all winter, whatever the weather: they were covered in honey bees.The Diary knows precious little about bees but this small swarm's almost ferocious activity is worrying. The air temperature was little above 8C, with a sharp a chill in the light breeze, so something must have driven them out of their hive this early, and this seems most likely to be hunger - last year, a hive elsewhere in the village which was active early was dead later in the Spring.
Meanwhile, for some creatures the fine day makes little difference, the daily hunt for a succulent blade of grass taking precedence over everything. 'Sheep with a View' seems an appropriate caption for this picture taken on Maol Buidhe at the western end of Ormsaigbeg.
Probably my bees. They will fly at any opportunity when it is warm enough. I will be home two weeks earlier then scheduled final trip cancelled. Feeding bees with sugar sollution is top of my to do list on 7 March
ReplyDeleteTrevor
Yes, my bees near Acharacle have been out in the sunshine recently in temperatures above 7ยบ or so. These bees look as though they are gathering pale pollen from the heather - to feed the early brood which will be developing in the hive. To check if they are short of stores, you'd have to take a quick look in the hive, or 'heft' it to see if it is unusually light. March can be a killer month for the bees because the queen will be laying faster, so lots of brood to feed, and the old bees that have come through the winter are getting tired. So if they do run short of stores and the weather/local plants are poor for foraging ... well you can guess the rest.
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