Well its not spring yet, but theres quite a bit of traffic in the apiary, and a fair bit of pollen coming in. So if they think its spring, that's good enough for me. All colonies appear to be healthy, however there are a few issues I concerned about.
Condensation. I found condensation in the lids of two hives. In one there were a few empty frames in the upper brood box covered in green powdery mold. I removed those frames. Are those frame a health hazard or will they clean them up themselves when they need them? That's the only issue I really have. I took a lot of honey off my bigger nasty colony, and used most of it to add to the hives which don't have a lot of stores.
My big nasty colony.
This hive was four boxes high filled with bees in march. I thought I would wait until may so they had settled down a bit in prep for winter and reduced in size. There were still four boxes full of bees. I opened them up yesterday, still four boxes full of bees. I escaped the two honey supers yesterday, and then removed th few remaining bees today. I moved them onto my property today. I couldn't work them in their previous location. I did an inspection in feb and they went and attacked the neighbouts 30 metres away. I did another inspection later in the month, and they attacked a man working on the roof three days later. so nasty, as soon as you took they lid off they went crazy. new queen for them soon.
So anyone have any thoughts on the mold?
James.