This week’s live Q&A focuses on being prepared for the season ahead, with advice for beekeepers in both hemispheres. In the Southern Hemisphere, spring preparation means managing rapidly growing colonies, preventing swarming, making space for incoming nectar and getting ready to harvest honey. In the Northern Hemisphere, the focus is on building adequate stores for winter. The Q&A covers a range of practical topics including swarm prevention, winter feeding, encouraging bees onto Flow Frames, protective gear, transporting nucleus colonies, urban beekeeping, queen genetics and adding extra supers.
The video also includes a hands-on inspection of a recently installed nucleus colony, demonstrating how to prepare Flow Frames, assess whether a hive is ready for a honey super, check brood and identify signs of a healthy laying queen. The hive isn’t quite ready for its Flow Super yet, but with a strong brood pattern and the approaching nectar flow, it is expected to build quickly as spring progresses.