First full spring inspection after winter (Wellington NZ) — stores burn rate caught me off guard
Southern hemisphere check-in. We finally got a calm 16°C afternoon in Wellington yesterday so I did my first proper frame-by-frame inspection since autumn, all six hives.
The good: five queens laying, two colonies already on four frames of brood, kōwhai just starting to flower which is our first real spring feed. The bad: the rate they're burning stores now that brood is ramping up genuinely surprised me — hive 4 went from comfortable in July to two half-frames of honey. This is the classic late-winter trap: colonies starve in early spring here more than in midwinter because brood rearing eats stores faster than the early flow replaces them. Syrup going on that one tonight.
Also making notes now on which colonies look like early swarm candidates — the strong two will need space or splits well before October at this pace.
Victoria's a few weeks behind you — still keeping inspections to quick lid-cracks here, cluster's only just loosening. But the wattle is out and pollen is coming in hard on flying days. Your point about the early-spring starvation window is the one I drum into new members at our club: the danger month is not June, it's now.
MendozaMiel · Aug 27, 2026
Same picture in Mendoza — brood ramping, stores vanishing. I hefted all mine on Sunday and fed the light third of the yard. KiwiBeek, do you feed 1:1 this early or thicker? I go 1:1 once they're flying most days since it also mimics a flow and pushes the queen a bit.
NalediBees · Aug 27, 2026
Mpumalanga's mild winter means my version of this is less dramatic, but the aloes carried my yard through and brood is building fast now. Agree on noting swarm candidates early — the colony that surprises you with cells in September telegraphed it in August, every time.
KiwiBeek · Aug 28, 2026
MendozaMiel — 1:1 once they're flying regularly, yes, exactly for that reason. Thicker syrup this early just gets stored slowly. Hive 4 took 2 L overnight which tells you everything about how close that one was.