Recent content by john1

Thank you so much all, I will start the honey extraction soon.

Hi, I am in Manchester, UK. Is it time to harvest honey and start the winter preparation? Thanks,

I will check again to see whether they are drone eggs, if they are not then I will assume there is a queen somewhere in the hive. Thank you so much

Hi, I had at least 7 queen cells in my hive a month ago. I believe one of them may have hatched (at least 4 weeks before). I could not see the queen yet in the hive, but I can see eggs and larvae including closed cells. I was wondering whether the worker bees can lay egg and have larvae etc...

Hi, Is it time to start the Varroa treatment in the hives? Thanks

Thank you so much, I will not feed them in the hive, instead I will leave some water in the garden near the hive.

Hi, The weather is really hot now. Do we need to leave a feeder with sugar syrup or water in the hive? Thanks

Thanks everyone, When I created the nuc, I made sure I had enough nursing bees in the nuc. Yes, I agree, I should NOT have done like this- leaving the queen in the strong colony. I should have put the queen in the nuc, so that the strong colony can rear a strong queen. Thanks

Thanks everyone, it looks like I do not need to remove the entrance block completely. I will make it wider to help them to enter easily and avoid any queue. Thanks

It is a new nuc I created. I took 6 frames from my strong colony. The original queen is still in the original hive. So, nuc is trying to have their queen. Thanks

Hi, I have a nuc where there is no queen at the moment. I have around 7 queen cells. After the first egg is hatched should I break the rest of the cells? OR, should I keep 1 or 2 queen cells and break the rest of the cells now - before they are hatched? Thanks

Hi, I have still the entrance block on the hive. Should I remove the entrance block now and when should I put it back? Thanks,

The original hive looks good and strong

Thanks @pargyle, When I create the next nuc, I will be taking only a frame with closed queen cells from the current nuc. Then I will add some bees and 3/4 emerging brood from the main colony to the next nuc I am going to make. Thanks

Hi, If I have some super frames and brood frames (no honey or eggs), what is the best way to store it for the following year to re-use them? There is no honey in the super or no brood in the brood frames. Is it enough to put them in a cardboard box and keep in a warm place? Thanks