The colony in Hive C is dead. It appears to have starved because of the extended cold during March.

I visited my out apiary today to see that the bees were ok. Two of the 3 hives which I thought occupied were flying. The other was too quiet. I suited up and found bees inside which were in the last stage of starvation before death.

People value things more when other people value them. Price is a useful proxy for judging what other people value, but price reflects usefulness and abundance and status and cultural history.

It takes experience and time to learn the value of that which is abundant, cheap or free. It takes no time to be influenced by someone.

I value feral bee colonies. Established feral colonies are where natural selection is allowed to happen. Established feral colonies are survivors.

Three hives in the out apiary appear healthy. It's still too cold for them to fly but there's detritus on on the removable screen beneath the brood nests.

It's less clear how Hive A is in Headington. The Ants are active on the removable board. There's some evidence of activity. The hive still has supers on because the brood nest moved up. It always appears to be very big so I assume that it's strong. Let's hope that's still true in a fortnight.