Recent content by beestie

Buckfast nuc Not sorted yet - yes please if you have them!

Buckfast preferred but otherwise not fussy

Removed the last 2 supers above the eke that were being cleaned (and now empty) on the big hive. Collated some decent capped frames from the supers below the eke to add to the harvest, and left the broodbox with one super, which I put below the brood box. (Tin hat on!) Removed QE Left eke on...

I'm somehow on the phone list - must have been a few years ago when I naively thought people would be calling constantly with pleas to remove honey-bee swarms. There's probably someone in the queue in front of me who gets all of those, cos all I seem to see is wasps and bumblebee nests...

I print labels; we call them 'watchstrap' shape for some reason. Happy to print yours, but there is a minimum invoice of £150 (to set up presses etc), so only really economical for 1,000 or more. selfadhesivelabelsdotcom or securitylabelsdotcom. Does this post break any rules? Sorry if so, any...

I removed snow the other day and discovered a pile of bees behind the 'wall'. Had they been trying to remove the snow from the entrance and perished in the process? So I removed the snow just in case...

:iagree: A photo would really help. Look anything like susbees avatar?

I voted 'holes closed all year' as they don't have holes. I do have ones with holes which get used with fondant or rapid feeders if required, but not for ventilation - I have OMFs for that.

Interesting... I have just installed clear crownboards in all of my hives. Opened one last weekend and was peering down through the (newly installed and still empty) super, trying to see what was happening beneath the QE. Nothing for about 15 seconds, then I heard something of a roar... They...

What sayeth The Forum? Arrrrrgh! Another swarm! :mad: This lot have housed themselves in a broken breeze block inside a shed wall next to the hive. Managed to get a couple of handfuls into a nuc but they went right back to their breeze block again. Now they seem to have found another gap and...

Usually with the feeding station at the front of the hive; presuming also that your hive is level or leaning towards the front (so that the sugar solution flows towards the feeding station).

Last weekend I thought I was going to have at least one and possibly 2 supers ready to extract. Took a quick look this afternoon, and what with the weather this week they have gone precisely nowhere. Which is annoying because they will contain at least some OSR, so I will have to keep an eye on...

nice.... Do you always leave entrance reducers on?

You can get something called BeeVital; comes in bottles or sachets. I tried it using the sachets with one hive last year and it seemed to work, but it might just be that the colony had settled down anyway. I'm not saying whether or not it's snakeoil, but it certainly didn't do any harm...

Well, Tuesday actually, but got distracted... Nuc from a swarm 3 weeks ago - now all 5 frames full of beautifully constructed cells, classic brood pattern and perfect looking crescent stores above brood. New virgin queen mated and going like stink. Hastily made up new hive stand, roof, floor...