‘Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us.’
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The sun was hard and bright as we drove to the apiary on Sunday morning. With the passing of the winter solstice the days begin to lengthen. The honeybee colony senses the incremental increases in daylight hours and the queen stirs deep within the cluster. She will soon start to lay for the coming spring.
In the UK beekeepers treat their hives with oxalic acid around 21/22 December. This is thought to be an effective anti-varroa treatment when there is little or no capped brood inside the hive. The varroa mites have nowhere to hide and are most vulnerable to treatment.
Last year I made this video of Emily dribbling oxalic acid on our hives.
As I wrote then, ‘Giving the bees oxalic acid‘, the treatment is given as a pre-mixed solution of 3% oxalic acid in sugar syrup with 5ml of solution dribbled across each seam of bees.
Emily had treated our Hanwell bees with oxalic acid and now we had three hives waiting at Perivale. John waited outside the apiary as I pulled on my beekeeping suit and untangled the hives from wrappings of chicken wire.
I opened up Myrtle’s hive – our oldest, and my favourite, queen – and peered into the still darkness. All was quiet. Then the workers ran up as one and peered back at me. To anyone but a beekeeper it would be disconcerting. A couple of young-looking fuzzy workers flew out and buzzed curiously around my veil. I realised it was time to stop enjoying the bees. They were losing precious heat, so I dispensed oxalic acid between each frame and closed the hive.
Next, Chamomile’s bees were clustered above the frames tucking into fondant. They were slightly more indignant, although not bad tempered, at being disturbed. So I didn’t linger. Last, Chili’s bees, having strangely taken to the medicine with the sugar, were too busy investigating the sweet drops to make a complaint. Yes, I too have noticed Chili’s bees are a bit weird.
Recent research has challenged the traditional way in which we give oxalic acid treatment, as Emily reports in her post ‘The great Facebook oxalic acid controversy‘. While I enjoy a midwinter visit to the bees, I feel uncomfortable about disturbing the winter cluster. The thought of a further inspection and destroying sealed brood when the colony is about to enter its most perilous time of year fills me with doubt.
However, as I reach the end of my fourth year as a beekeeper, I realise that I must become less sentimental about the bees. As beekeepers we love every bee and often anthropomorphise about life inside the hive, but the honeybee colony can be a ‘vast and cool and unsympathetic’ intellect acting as one mind. Workers will dispose unhealthy larvae, retire old queens and dispatch drones for the good of the whole. If this new research proves to be the best approach then we may have to change the way oxalic acid is given in future. But for now, I’d rather wait and see.
It has been a busy year for our bees, but we have reached the end. I’m taking a break from blogging for the holidays, so here are some of my favourite beekeeping moments from 2013.
Happy Christmas everyone and see you in the New Year!
Best beekeeping pictures of 2013
Snowmageddon – Emily finds evidence of woodpeckers in the snow.
My first sighting of a honeybee this year foraging on a purple crocus.
This could get out of hand – our bees make new queens.
A wonderful Bee Surprise from my boyfriend John and his friends.
Autumn is coming – the year passes too quickly and soon the bees are preparing for autumn.
My favourite queen Myrtle walking across the frame. She’s a long amber beauty.
Our bees love building wax comb where they’re not supposed to!
One of my favourite pictures of Emily beekeeping this year – What is a swarm cell and what is a superseder cell?
And last but not least, a congregation of Ealing beekeepers.
Mrs Apis Mellifera 
Love the bee on the crocus and also the last photo of the Ealing beekeepers – great revelations coming out there! Thanks for treating our bees.
Just watched the video – what a lively colony that was! Flying all over the place. The Hanwell bees stayed much more tightly packed while I treated them.
Well Hanwell bees came from Ian so they would be well behaved! I think it was slightly damp the day we did oxalic acid last year – so more cause for the bees to be cross!
They were as good as gold this year Em! I didn’t need my smoker at all though had it ready in case. Also the colonies looked Very healthy – lively, good tempered, alert, plump and fuzzy. I suspect young workers hatched in October to replenish the colony for winter.
What lovely bees we have 🙂
Great images. The turning of the wheel to the other lighter side of the Winter Solstice leaves me feeling suspicious of the Winter. This Winter is being too nice and friendly, is it hiding some nasty surprises for the UK?
Thanks for the last bee year’s posts, with quality cake interludes, and all the best for 2014, EST. RH