Hi
This is my first winter season, I have one colony that has been very strong through the summer. I did try a late summer split but was ultimately unsuccessful and had to reunite, leaving me with plenty of stores. I did my final check in late October and insulated theoutside of the hive shortly after (1 brood box, 1 super). There's another hive owned by another keeper on the same site, which is handy to have as a sort of environmental factor control. I popped down to have a quick look on Sunday as it was mild (about 10 C), and noticed there was quite a bit of activity at the other hive entrance and none at mine. Fearing the worst, and as it was mild, I lifted the roof for a couple of seconds just to get an idea - there were bees at the hole in the crown board, and a glimpse of what seemed like normal activity in the super frames. After I popped the lid down a solitary scout briefly buzzed about me, then returned inside.
The temptation to suit up and have a look inside is very strong but I know this will be counterproductive unless it's an unusually warm day. Is it normal that two hives a couple of feet away from each other would behave differently like this? Should I be worried, and what can I do (if anything) to reassure myself they're doing OK?
This is my first winter season, I have one colony that has been very strong through the summer. I did try a late summer split but was ultimately unsuccessful and had to reunite, leaving me with plenty of stores. I did my final check in late October and insulated theoutside of the hive shortly after (1 brood box, 1 super). There's another hive owned by another keeper on the same site, which is handy to have as a sort of environmental factor control. I popped down to have a quick look on Sunday as it was mild (about 10 C), and noticed there was quite a bit of activity at the other hive entrance and none at mine. Fearing the worst, and as it was mild, I lifted the roof for a couple of seconds just to get an idea - there were bees at the hole in the crown board, and a glimpse of what seemed like normal activity in the super frames. After I popped the lid down a solitary scout briefly buzzed about me, then returned inside.
The temptation to suit up and have a look inside is very strong but I know this will be counterproductive unless it's an unusually warm day. Is it normal that two hives a couple of feet away from each other would behave differently like this? Should I be worried, and what can I do (if anything) to reassure myself they're doing OK?