(updated 2021-12-12)
Today was mild for December at only 12°C, and I am isolating, so I thought I'd head into the muddy wood to see how the two colonies were getting on and to see whether they needed any food.
This included a peek inside the new colony's hive for the first time. Things seemed very quiet in there, and the uppermost super had empty, old, shrivelled comb in it. I had a quick look into the lower super, saw that it was full of honey, and noticed the ball of bees beneath. That's all I needed to see. Though it seemed they were well-prepared, I left behind 2kg of Fondabee⁽ᵃ⁾, and pushed a few clumps of it down to let them know what I left in the roof.
(a) gwenyngruffydd.co.uk — via https
The old colony are doing well too, with the bees all balled up and one bee making a surprisingly loud buzz to see me off.
They're really not interested in the Fondabee, though. Maybe they have enough stores for the winter. In any case, fondant doesn't go off, does it? I have lots of packs of it in a box from Gwenyn Gruffydd⁽ᵃ⁾. It looks like we won't get through it by the time spring comes. That's probably a good thing, right?
(a) gwenyngruffydd.co.uk — via https
It'll be Midwinter in just over a week, and I should be thinking about the annual oxalic acid sublimation treatment. The equipment for this is back home in Somerset⁽ᵃ⁾, where everyone is in quarantine. I've never been very happy with the old sublimator, so maybe it's a good time to invest in a better one. I'll doubtless report back on this later in the month.
(a) en.wikivoyage.org — via https
Until then, like the bees, keep warm and well-fed.
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