MrB was right

Taking the opportunity of the last of our "Spring Preview" days and with the temperature over 10°C, took the lid off the hive I was convinced was as good as dead.

Was thrilled to find there is still life and I was wrong. The colony is very small and I hope that when the cold weather returns next week that they will be OK.

Disturbing was the amount of condensation and the light mildew/mold on the back wall of the hive. The last two frames/combs which were anyway as good as empty of honey also had a few cells with mold and there were a number of decaying dead bees at the back. Cleaned away as much as I could at the back but didn't disturb the frames where the bees are and have the brood.

On the photo in the bottom right quadrant, one can see a few pools of water which MrB had already told me is produced around the brood frames. I have removed the plastic covering we put on top of the frames to stop the bees sealing them with the roof. Have just left a few sheets of newspaper to prevent this & hope they don't eat it.

So very happy today although I am under no illusion what a Detroit like snap would probably do. Owe you a coffee MrB.