January 10th, 2025
Good news, everyone! The bees are still alive!! We went and checked in on them a few weeks ago and were able to take a peek inside the hives.
London has a sugar board on top since their honey production was not as prolific this year. We took a peek under the roof and could see that they've eaten away some of the sugar. We also saw some bees walking around looking very much alive.
Paris did not have a sugar board so we were much more nervous to lift their roof and invite a draft into the hive. Instead, Mason put his ear flat against the side of the hive and gave it a couple solid knocks. The bees responded in unison with a muffled but barely audible buzz of annoyance. Only living bees can tell you to “buzz off”! We are thrilled that both colonies seem to be doing well so far. Doing the mite treatment before the winter was probably the key to their success this winter. The bark chip insulation is dry in both hives and there seems to be plenty of food to get through the rest of the winter. We'll keep our fingers crossed that they're still buzzing along when we go back to check up on them this spring.
