It’s beyond bee recognition to have frost in early May.
I would peek out the entrance to see what’s going on outside.
And it wasn’t looking good.
For frost to continue for that long it outrageous. And what frost it was! The sole though about the gusts of awful cold wind sent shivers through my antennae.
It shouldn’t be like that, and to be honest, nothing portended “this situation”.
Here’s how the year started in our apiary.
The beekeeper paid her first visit this year on 20 February. It was a beautiful day. It was 8 degrees warm… well, only in the sun, but warm it was.
Would you believe that?! In February!
I’m telling you. She came and cleaned our bottom board (it’s at the bottom of our hive, where all waste is collected), and brought us delicious food.
On 20 February, we, the bees, went outside our house for the first time as well – you know, we don’t fly in winter, just cuddle together in our warm home and try to survive. Next time, I’ll tell you just how important the first spring flight is.
Anyway, I and my sisters were very hopeful that flowers would soon bloom and there would be plenty of food for us to eat.
We couldn’t be more wrong.
The beekeeper fed us with a special cake with vitamins, but it’s not even near to what a fresh serving of nectar and pollen is. Worse still, the other bee families that reside in our apiary were in the same situation. They couldn’t fly out of their hives to forage for food. And you do want to eat when you’re hungry, don’t you.
There is also one more thing about us, the bees, you need to know… you don’t want to come near us when we’re bored – we can be very mean then.
The following days of what should be the spring were even worse.
There’s a bee family living next door. They’re called Melisski. They were particularly bored, and stronger than us to that. Melisski started penetrating into our hive. They wanted to take away our food. Sadly, a few of my sisters were killed in action. It started to get really dangerous.
Luckily, the beekeeper has an eye on us. She couldn’t stop the robbers next door, so she took our hive and moved it to a safe location. And now we’re in her friend’s garden. It’s peace at last, and we’re trying to get back into shape. Her friend’s garden is wonderful. Flowers are blooming, we’ve got food, and we’re safe.
We’re coming back to our apiary in a week…things are looking up.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Yours Mariola