to Receive a Little Help

There was an opportunity to get in to the apiary today.  There was a brief period of sunshine this morning.  It is the time of year when one should be "hefting" beehives to make certain that there are no colonies that might be running short of food..

This means that each hive is slightly lifted at the rear.  It enables one to gauge the weight of honey remaining in the hive.

In fact I like to give each hive a small amount of feed anyway.  This is given as candy or fondant in an up-turned plastic container.

However chirpy, seen here, has the whole job sussed out.  When the hive roofs are removed there are often quite a few insects sheltering beneath. 

Chirpy quickly gets things cleaned up!