I was called to the Barton Fields allotments to see a swarm of bees on a bush. By the time I arrived it had fallen onto the ground. I placed a box next to it and gently scooped some bees into it. Quite quickly there was fanning and the remainder marched in. The whole catch must have taken no more than half an hour.

I gently cycled home with the box on my bike. It turned out that the box was slightly damaged so a couple of dozen bees escaped. I left them in a cool place and marched them into a hive the next morning.

I inspect my hives by looking at what comes out of them. At the front this means bees. Underneath, on the base board, this means wax; pests; pollen; Propolis; crystallized honey and bits of dead bee. Everything which comes out tells a story about what goes on inside.

Dark wax and dry Propolis

All my hives appear to be alive at the start of April. There is humming in all the hives. There are bees flying and pollen on most of the removable base boards. This is great news. We've had turbulent weather since last summer -- high winds on many occasions; heavy rain through the autumn; persistent damp cold. Now spring is well underway and there are flowers and blossom.