to Pay Respects

One of the quaint aspects of beekeeping is to wish the bees the compliments of the season.  

So today there were two pleasant jobs to do.  Firstly one "hefts" the hives.  That means gently lifting the rear of the whole hive off the stand at little way.   With experience one can then have a fair idea how heavy the colony is.  If it is light that means some winter feeding is required.

Secondly there is the job of thanking the bees for their work in the past season and looking forward to new one.