Swings and Roundabouts

Regardless of calendars, celestial bodies or almanacs, I declare today the first day of spring! I'm well aware we may yet have storm, tempest, snow or ice, but today there was a discernible difference in the heat of the sun, the weight of the blossom the urgency of every living thing to commit to the new season and get on with it

We saw Brimstone and Red Admiral on the wing, fritillaries about to burst open, blackthorn petals scattered in our path - their job done - and this pollen, not just trickling in because the opportunity was there, but being crammed in with impatience to push through the still-restricted hive entrances. Suddenly, there is a need to press on, to beat the clock, to be ready, to be ready

Four colonies out of five were energised in this way. One has perished. Sharp-eyed Mrs M saw the queen dead on the ground in front of the hive. We opened up the hives and found nothing but silence and bodies. The proximate cause was what is called "isolation starvation": in a hive full of honey and sugar, the colony managed to isolate themselves in an upper corner where the food had all been used, but did not move to the parts where food was plentiful - they starved to death when ample supplies were within 10cm

I think there must have been a more fundamental disorder. I have had my suspicions about the vigour of this colony all winter. I think their numbers had dwindled to the point where they were clustering around a tiny patch of brood, trying to keep it warm and grow their population, but there were not enough of them to spread across the food-filled cells and feed the colony. My guess is that the underlying problem is viruses weakening the colony and shortening the lives of the bees to the point where they could not pull themselves through the final weeks of the winter with enough bees to bounce back

So it goes - it's a while since we lost a colony in winter - we were overdue the ace of spades. This does at least solve my dilemma of how we would fit five colonies into four hives come spring. Spring is here and Mr Micawber would be satisfied with the situation