I have been looking forward to today since I spotted the predicted high of 60 in the forecast a week or so ago. Alas, I have not been feeling well and wasn’t able to enjoy my visit to the bees as much as I’d hoped.

But, the bees! They are buzzing! The north hive was particularly active, which again was such a welcome sight after my very silly mistake this winter. They’d just about finished up the last of their Hive Alive fondant, so I placed another one on the inner cover for them. It was so nice out that I also took the inner cover off briefly and contemplated checking a frame, but soon the alarm pheromone, smelling vaguely of rotting banana, wafted through the mesh in my veil and I covered them up quick.

The south hive also looked great. They still had plenty of fondant left. I pulled a couple frames just to take a peek. One outer frame was full of food, and a frame closer to the middle was covered in bees that seemed pretty mad at me, so I quickly put everything back together and just sat and observed the entrances.

I was surprised to see pollen coming into the north hive! I wouldn’t say it was a ton, but for February I was still surprised at the amount. I didn’t notice as much pollen coming into the south hive, but there was some! There was also a lot of cleanup activity — removal of debris and undertaker bees removing the dead bees from the entrances.

It feels amazing to get that whiff of honey bee hive — warm, earthy, sweet, dry — after months of not knowing what’s going on in there.

I’m a little nervous at this point to say definitively that I’ve successfully overwintered them, but it sure looks promising.