A Good Day For Bees

The past few days have been fabulous - weather in the 60's, and no snow or freezing temperatures. Earlier this week I heard from some of my fellow bee keepers in MA, and they report that pollen is already being brought in. I hadn't seen an yet, plus I didn't see anything blooming.

Well the past day or two my eyes have started itching, telling me that the pollen may be starting. Today I decided to really watch the bees to see if I could see some pollen. I saw what I thought was pollen, but the bees were very fast. So I got out the camera and set it on multiple shots, and just held down the shutter button. Here's what I saw (click on any picture to enlarge):

Obviously there is something around which is blooming. In my yard I see the starts of some new plants (from some bulbs), but the trees are still bare.

Both hives were active, but I didn't open up the hives today. I'll probably do that this weekend - I need to inspect every frame, and swap out some frames that I know are damaged. Then I can better evaluate how things look, and what I may need to plan for this year. Also, I need to whip up a batch of 1:1 sugar water to put in some medication to keep down the Nosema.

In looking at the pictures, I also saw something that that tickled me. During the winter, I put some sugar on the hives for emergency feeding. After they ate a bunch of the sugar, I put down a paper towel and added more sugar. Today I saw a bee dragging out a piece of paper towel, and take off flying to dump it:

She dragged it out, and took off flying!

Also, the bees weren't the only ones who enjoyed the nice weather outside today: