Check-up on the bee hive

It was great weather today (4/1) so time to check up on the bees. After 2 formic acid treatments and a late Oxalic acid treatment I had my fingers crossed the the hive was still alive and well and that I had finally gotten rid of the extreme numbers of varoa mites.

A quick look around the hive, there was no dead bees - so far so good. Also, there was not off smells indicating diseases. Putting my ear to the hive I could hear a happy buzzing, so all looks and sounds good.

Pulling out the tray in the bottom of the hive also looked great - only 4-5 mites which might as well be the last of the clean-up after the oxalic acid treatment in december about a month ago.

Finally I weighed the hive. Total mass was 26.05 kg which is a drop in mass of 4.1 kg since end October. Still it is a little more than one kg more than last year where the starting mass was pretty much the same at the end of October. It could mean that the winter family is a bit smaller than last year or that there has been something to feed on for longer (?)

Anyway, I look like I will have a healthy family in the spring ready to collect honey for mead :o)