Recent content by gingerbees

yes if they eat slugs that have eaten pellets it can be fatal, they also pick up lung worm from slugs, any hog out during daylight is in trouble so a rescue centre or 'sympathetic' vet is the first stop. If it has been very hot they might be desperate for a drink of water, hogs need a fair bit...

Try Kyle - Woodhouse Eaves honey is his website. He offered me good advice when we first set up, not sure if he is on the forum

Whooped loudly We harvested our very first honey - hoorah. We also reunited a small swarm back into the original hive as the new queen was laying nicely. Followed the instructions by the book - lets see if the bees read the same one!! :)

We too harvested our first ever honey this week. Very exciting and tastes fantastic. We figured it owes us about £100 a jar - but perhaps we might get some more!! Thanks for the advice about the 'bits' more straining required. Our neighbours were delighted with their jar - quote 'never had fresh...

pollen going in, blackberry, bright orange and balsam and we have put a syrup feeder on, there isn't a huge amount of bees, about 4 frames max, so probably need to reunite for the winter.

Our old queen (born last year) swarmed 2 weeks ago, we caught the swarm and re-hived. The original hive she came from has produced a virgin queen. My question is: How long before the old marked queen starts laying again in her new hive, if at all. Up until swarming she was a good layer. We...

We bought a Th orn es bees on a budget hive as our first one, it comes flat packed, a good learning curve building it, pretty easy and it is great! Comes with frames, 2 supers, mesh floor, queen excluder etc etc Really good value for a starter.

looks like a hive tool to me!!

Jackbee - Yes I have grubs and sealed brood, too quick an inspection to spot eggs. Didn't see queen or eggs today. Am sure we haven't lost a prime. I check the area almost every day and today was the first time the 'mood' had changed. Also there are loads of bees left in the original hive.

Yes almost certain its from our second hive. There is no way we have lost a prime, there are too many bees left. Last inspection 2 weeks ago - no queen cells but lots of drones and healthy brood, laying pattern. The Q cells left on today didn't look thinned but there was one that looked like it...

Advice please: At 6pm I noticed bees fanning at the entrance to my second hive. I then spotted a small cast swarm in the apple tree. Have caught the swarm, it is very small, and housed it near the original hive. Did a very quick inspection on the original hive, still pretty full of bees, 10...

I wish you were nearer West Cumbria! We would happily house them.

habitataid.co.uk specialise in bee friendly plants and seeds, no connection just in admiration of their site and values. They donate some profits back to beekeeping too.

Really useful comments, we are in the middle of a farm who tries mostly to be organic, no spraying! Cover crop would fit, it is also shooting land, Brassica campestris fits the description too. Thanks Queens59 for the honey advice & ITLD for crop advice. Very helpful.

Near our 2 hives, a farmers field has just come into bloom with yellow flowers, he sowed them in March. They look remarkably like oil seed rape. Yellow flowers with 4 petals and pods on the stalks. Is it likely to be rapeseed? The bees are bringing in lemon yellow pollen. The plants are low to...