🐝 "They're dripping with bees!"

These cells in the middle contain freshly packed yellow and orange pollen.

What's new on the farm:

It's been an up and down week here on Vancouver Island, but we are ending it on a high note.

Andrew has gone through every hive and is happy to report that the survival rate this year was 80%!

That's a huge difference compared to how bad last year was.

Not only are the numbers good this year, but the quality of the hives is great as well.

While he has been going through each hive frame by frame to assess them, one way that Andrew quickly checks to see if a hive is strong is by "tipping" the hive. This means he lifts one side so he can see underneath it.

It's a better indicator than opening up the lid to take a peek, because it's less disruptive to the bees.

The more bees you see hanging down, the stronger the hive.

He says we have many big hives that are, in his words, "dripping with bees". This is such a positive sign!

In about three weeks, many of these hives will be strong enough to split into more hives. These new hives help replace all the ones that we lost over the winter and grow our hive count.

Some colonies are bringing in so much nectar and pollen right now that they're packing the combs full. It's come to the point that Andrew actually has to remove some honey and pollen from the hive.

And let me tell you, he hates the idea of removing food at this time of year. It's so counter to what he has dealt with in the past.

Most years, he has to supplement the hives with pollen patties and syrup before there are enough blooms to sustain them.

But right now the maple trees are blooming, which is a major source of food.

The hives are bringing in so much that there isn't any room in the hives for the queen to continue laying eggs.

So Andrew has to take out some food frames, or else the hive will get so plugged up with more food they keep bringing in!

We're pretty happy right now. For the first spring in many years, it feels like there is abundance. Plenty of food, plenty of bees!