Spring Bees and the Cetti's Warbler Challenge

I love warm, sunny weather in late March/early April - because I get to inspect my bees for the first time after the winter. I now have only two hives and I've been desperate to have a good look under each roof to see what's going on in the colonies. But I have to wait until the weather warms up, because I can't expose my bees to the cold.

Last week - when there were several days of perfect, beekeeping weather - I was able to lift all the frames out of the hive and study the bees.  And I soon realised I'd found a tale of two hives...

One hive is thriving and is already filling up with honey. I'll have to watch this one, because if the colony is building up fast it may be ready to swarm soon (especially if it finds a banquet of oilseed rape in the fields). The last thing I want is to see a cloud of honeybees leaving the hive and flying over the horizon.

The other hive, meanwhile, is doing less well, because, just before Easter, it had been knocked over again and the colony has lost many of its bees. At the time, I thought the queen had been lost as well, but I've since seen eggs in the comb, which means she's there and laying.  It's a huge relief.  I've been feeding this colony with sugar-syrup and pollen patties, so hopefully it will also build up quickly.

White-tailed bumblebee

My honeybees have been foraging on the pussy willow growing just behind the hives - and the bumblebees are enjoying this, too.

I'm also starting to see other bees in the garden...

Dew-covered Buff-tailed Bumblebee.

Male Hairy-Footed Flower Bee on erysimum

I know a fair bit about honeybees but I don't know so much about the other types, so this year I want to learn more about them. I do know that there are over 250 species of bee in the UK, so this will be a bit of a challenge! I'll take photos and record sightings, and note down the flowers that interest them in my garden. In early summer I'll be joining in the Great British Bee Count 2016 organised by Friends of the Earth with Waitrose and Buglife. The aim of the count is to get a picture of bee populations by encouraging people to send in information on the bees they see in May and June. It's a great piece of 'citizen science' and the link is here

As well as my bee challenge, I've set myself a bird challenge because there's a bird I'd also like a decent photo of as well this year - the Cetti's Warbler.  This little bird has a very loud burst of song but I find it very difficult to see (given that it hides itself in reeds and bramble). I've spent too long staring at scrub where it's been singing looking at an invisible bird.  So I'm now beginning the 2016 Cetti's Warbler Challenge.

It doesn't help that when I set out to see it, I'm usually distracted by other birds that I can see flitting about such as this Chiffchaff...

and Bullfinch...

Male and female Blackcaps, nesting Long Tailed-Tits, a Treecreeper and others appeared, too. But there was no real view of the Cetti's Warbler.  So, for now, I'm having to make do with the occasional glimpse - as seen in this photo, (where it looks as though the branch is going to swing round and knock it out)

 Cetti's Warbler (latest pic below - a little bird determined to get away from my camera!)

I also wish I could take a photo that'll do justice to my beautiful primrose bank on our front verge. Each year more native primroses appear and this year I've counted nearly 300 clumps of primroses on it.

When they finish flowering, wild garlic appears with a few bluebells and then the hedge casts a greater shadow over the whole bank (it faces north) and the grass grows up. I'd like to see other wild flowers growing here then. Some do grow naturally in the lane (like bugle - loved by bumblebees), and so it would be great to see them spreading over the bank. That way I can have a verge full of different wild flowers throughout the summer.