Recent content by acepestdetective

Hi guys and gals. Currently out of the country so just wondering if there are many swarms so far this season? I have left me bees in the capable hands of a family member and have yet to speak to them regarding the weather etc so hope thinks aren't too mad there!? Hope all is well in the land...

Rab. Cracking idea, many thanks for that one! Rob.

Thanks for the idea Rae. After looking through I found a nice fat larvae in a queen cell and popped this into the spare hive. I split the two broods and put a couple of supers on each hive giving the girls plenty of room and storage space. Fingers crossed it works out ok! Well will see...

Hello all. I'm gonna make a split of a colony who have been very busy here in the UK so far this spring. They're spread out over two brood boxes and a super (work and weather has meant I've been late sorting them) and I have an un marked queen. As for normal splits I believe I would find the...

Hi all. After reading your thoughts I may have been a little expectant and getting the bees back in one piece would be more than I could expect. Will have a word with a few of those in my LAN and a couple of friends I know who will have the time and passion to help out. May leave one colony...

Hi all. I'm looking at taking a year out and seeing a bit of the world in April/May and thus looking to loan my bees out for a year or so. I currently have 4 colonies (winter dependant of course) which are in WBC's. There will be around 2 supers supplied with each hive and I'm just wondering...

Thanks all. Just running it through a fine sieve then gonna try the muslin again or a slightly coarser mesh. I'm in Hereford Admin.

I have it in the kitchen so yes it's pretty warm but there is some OSR and other granulated honey which isn't helping when blocking up the filter! I guess the finer the cloth the finer the honey depending upon what you want to end up with!

Hi all. I've finally got round to extracting my honey and after around a day and a half of straining very little has found its way through the muslin cloth. Is this to fine a cloth for straining? What do you guys and gals use? Rob.

Thanks all. Finman - Do i need to spray mist on the combs every day? Can't say i've heard of this method but guess it's to stop the OSR granules being taken down. Must admit i'm oh so sceptial either way!

Hello all. Have just been carrying out my first proper harvest ever and although I thought I had already done so earlier in the year quite a few of my frames had granulated honey in them. It is quite possibly rape and the runny honey is now straining but I'm wondering what to do with that...

You didn't read incorrectly I have indeed put the super below the broad box. So yes I'm on brood and a half. The reason being is that I want to give the bees room and plenty of space for storage. The thought being behind brood on top of the super was that come spring the cluster will have moved...

Hi all. In my second year as a beek and have 4 colonies on the go. Three of these are well established and I took what supers off I could for harvesting over the weekend. As I'm on WBC's I have placed the supers below the brood boxes in preperation for over wintering but with the Balsam...

Hi all. Thanks for your replies! Am I correct in thinking that a 14x12 is a box with deep frames as opposed to mediums which I have at present then? I am looking to expand my bees next year and will be going with nationals or commercials from then on but will probably still keep my good old...

Hi all. As a newcomer to the bee keeping world (second year) I currently have 4 WBC's. Due to the nature of having 10 frames in the brood box and a strain that have been expanding very quickly indeed I'm looking at increasing to brood and a half next season. My query is that my super has...