Hot sunny weather all this week and it looks from outside the hive like all's going well - loads of busy foragers all around the garden! I topped up the rapid-feeder last night as they'd taken over a pint and a half since Sunday night!
It isn't usually necessary to feed a colony extra rations like this in good summer weather but we really need them to hugely increase their population as fast as possible and they need to build up all those empty wax frames too.
Foragers usually go out with one specific goal in mind on each trip; water, nectar or a specific pollen crop (they don't usually seem to mix pollens). You can see what a bee is harvesting on a flower by watching it closely; sometimes they scurry all over it making the pollen cling to their body and then bundle it together on their legs, other times they head straight for the centre and dip their heads in to suck up the nectar.
Borage - flowers for ages and good a great source of nectar (makes very clear runny honey)
Blackberry - masses of pale grey pollen.
A huge Cow Parsley (about 5ft tall). This gigantic weed has been saved because the bees love it, they seem to come back all afternoon!
