Welcome to the March 2026 Newsletter from Rugby Beekeepers

I have some thoughts for this newsletter. Swarming – I was caught on the hop yesterday, a beekeeper posted a video with loud buzzing and a lot of bees. While I thought it was too early for drones and therefore swarms, he suggested prepping a bait hive just in case. [The bees were having a vigorous orientation flight]

Swarms can start early in a warm season, and some years there are so many we can’t find homes within the RBKA area, although our neighbours in the Warwick and Leamington branch always seem able to take our surplus. Last year was a sparse year, few swarms and not enough to give all our members who needed one their first colony.

I thought I would write and ask those fortunate enough to have multiple colonies to consider if they could help others out. Firstly, the beekeeper who collects the swarm owns it, but may be able to offer or pass it on to another member in need. Most of our swarm collectors do this automatically. They also pass on swarm calls if they can’t go themselves, a great practice. Sometimes the calls come from neighbours rather than the BBKA route so could be missed. Secondly, when hives have queen cells, we often just break them off. But a queen cell could be used to create a nuc (for those of you that attended this month’s presentation about small scale queen rearing you would have learnt all about this). If done early enough in the season there is every chance that would build into a viable colony that would survive a winter.

While I’m hoping for lots of swarm calls this summer it would be great to know every member of our group has at least one colony.

Cathy Moore

March already, we are all probably preparing to open our hives next month. Always ensure the temperature is suitable before you consider opening any hive. A good indication of whether it is warm enough is to stand outside for 5 minutes with just a t-shirt on, if you start feeling cold it is too cold.

A mix of excitement and anticipation is present at this time of the year. Read your hive notes first to remind yourself of each hive before opening. This month observing the hive for a short while will tell you so much. Note any pollen going in, bees collect pollen when they have brood to feed. How many shades? At this time of year the bright yellow crocus pollen may still be coming in whilst the white snow drop pollen has probably ended by now. As the climate warms plants that a few decades ago would flower in April are now flowering in March.

Watch for any orientation flights occurring, as Cathy mentioned earlier these can be quite active events and may even appear to be a swarm. Look for evidence or signs of nosema staining on the hive and other signs that may indicate an unhealthy hive. Most good beekeeping books will highlight features to observe prior to opening the hive.

Once you have the opportunity to open your hives, probably next month weather permitting, we would be looking for the queen in situ, observing the brood pattern and colony balance. One of our members who has already had a quick peek in their hives on the nice warm day we have just had, noticed they all had eggs, larvae and brood in but in one hive it was all drone brood!

We also need to consider that larger colonies may be expanding at speed and this is good, but if the weather turns inclement the colony will use their stores rapidly. Be mindful of this if the weather suddenly changes and feed if necessary. As the temperatures are still quite low it is best to feed fondant rather than syrup.

Sadly one of my hives has already died, I cannot remember the last winter loss I had. It's always upsetting to see this, especially when they went into winter as a strong, well-prepared hive. Speaking with other members there does seem to be quite a few who have lost more colonies than normal. Maybe this is a result of the abnormally warm autumn with temperatures in November still high enough for the bees to be flying. Flying bees with not too much forage available will have used up more of their stores.

On a bright note - A big thank you to the team that helped clean and tidy the Rugby apiary two weeks ago, the weather was kind, which resulted in the work being completed in record time. Equally a large thank you to Kim who maintains the apiary all year around, ensuring the hives remain healthy and suitable to be used as a teaching apiary.

The BBKA Spring Convention is worth a visit for sales and lectures if you find time. It runs from 17th – 19th April at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, about a 90 minute drive from us. You can attend for just a day or the duration and take advantage of sale prices and the opportunity to listen to excellent speakers. You can find out more details and book tickets by visiting; https://www.bbka.org.uk/pages/category/about-spring-convention

Here are a few suggestions to consider in the apiary during March;

Only open a live hive if you need too. Generally the weather is not warm enough at the present time If bees are not flying on a sunny day are they alive? Quick peek under crownboard, if alive close up, if dead close entrance until you find time to sort the hive If bees have died it is always sad and upsetting – investigate the cause, then clean equipment well in case of disease Consider preparing equipment ready for swarm season. So useful to have frames and boxes ready made up Check on stores, the hives are expanding quickly and stores can run low. Hefting rather than opening hives is safer, add fondant if in doubt over the crownboard Varroa – a floor insert will give you an idea of daily varroa drop. Refer to the National Bee Unit for guidance if necessary Maybe review your hive notes from last year and plan your action points for this new season Consider rearing queens yourself, the meeting this month is a recorded talk by Jane Medwell on ‘small scale queen rearing’, an excellent knowledgeable speaker Check bee suits for gaps and repair if needed – very important! Mend broken equipment and scorch any remaining equipment ready for action

Gail Plester