close but...

Temperature: 16C
Weather: Muggy, threatening rain.
Stings: None.

I was intending for this to be the day that I did the swarm prep. I had the frames ready, along with brood box, floor, crown board and roof. But the weather got in the way. The muggy weather and heavy cloud had kept pretty much all the bees in the hive. So, when I opened up loads started flying and they were really unhappy about being disturbed. I had a good look through but couldn't find the queen, the clouds were getting heavier and the bees were getting more and more upset. So, in all I decided to try again next week. My decision was influenced by the fact that I didn't see any queen cups while I was looking through that lower brood box.

What I did see, and which did worry me, was quite a few bees with deformed or bent wings. Not a huge number but enough to make me ponder. Other beekeepers I have talked to are worried that this year might be a bad one for varroa. They might be right. It is very early in the year to be seeing bees in that condition. I saw some drone brood here and there plus a few drones stumbling around. Not much brood and not many drones. However, I might have a closer look at those cells next week. A good time to change the brood comb, methinks. A time for action.