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    Drones entering hive

    I have a couple of hives that swarmed (away on hols so couldn't prevent). Captured two swarms, housed and queens laying well. Old hives, that swarmed, had queen cells, now empty so queen emerged. This was about 3 weeks ago. No sign yet of a laying queen. Have spotted drones entering these two...
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    Swarms and the 3 feet/mile rule

    It is only a handful of bees but they do not appear to be very happy. I dropped the swarm in a box around 5pm yesterday but didn't move them until around 9.30pm when all was quiet. I have given the area a wash down with soapy water. Hopefully the stragglers will get the message and move on...
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    Swarms and the 3 feet/mile rule

    Having collected and housed a local swarm I am wondering whether the 3 feet/ 3 mile rule applies. Will there be any problems hiving a swarm close to where it came from? A number of the bees are looking around the site where I collected the swarm as if they are confused about their new home.
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    Bees out of hive

    Thanks for all the responses. I can now relax as they are acting normally.
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    Bees out of hive

    It is 3pm, 6 degrees out and glorious sunshine. My 2 hives are positioned in this afternoon sun. The hives were wintered with mouse guard, oxalic treatment reasonable stores which I supplemented a couple of weeks ago with some fondant (just in case). I have just spotted that there are a small...
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    Screening hives

    I have 3 hives in a corner of my garden screened off with privet hedging to send the bees up over head height. This was fine in the early days but the hedge is getting big, casts a shadow over the hives and makes it harder to watch the bees. Pruning back helps for a time but isn't really the...
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    OSR and Heating Cabinet?

    Thanks all for the advice. I managed to extract early and did filter at that stage. I may experiment on a small amount in the oven and see what happens. Thanks
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    OSR and Heating Cabinet?

    I extracted about 20lbs of OSR early in the season and it is now rock hard in the bucket. I have read many posts about creaming OSR and they all seem to require a heating cabinet. This seems a little OTT for just 20lbs of honey. Is there a suitable alternative to a heating cabinet or do I have...
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    Honey Gate Valve

    Having to expand my stock of honey buckets as the number of hives increase. I have put a plastic gate/valve into a bucket. The connection of the gate to the bucket passed a water drip test but there are water drips from the gate opening. Does this mean that the honey will also drip or will it be...
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    Should I be panicing?

    I could take a frame from the rehoused swarm hive. I assume I add this and see if they produce QCs?
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    Should I be panicing?

    12th May swarm from my one over wintered hive. Captured swarm rehoused in new hive and they are thriving. Squashed all but 2 QC in old hive - none capped 26th May capped QC in old hive - suspect not one of the two I left 30th May QC uncapped but cannot see queen 10th June still no sign of...
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    Housed a swarm - now what?

    Captured a swarm and housed it into a hive on 12th May. Not had a chance to inspect until today because of cold weather. Bee active in long awaited sun and bringing in pollen. Inspected this evening and they seem active drawing out new frames and producing a lot of store across approximately 6...
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    After the swarm....

    What a great reply Victor M. There is a lot of advice about swarm control but I don't see a lot about what happens after a swarm.
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    Hello and help please!

    You should appreciate that a colony of bees can be 40,000 to 50,000 bees. Not treated properly they can be a danger to you, family, neighbours and also the bees. Don't want to discourage as bee keeping is very rewarding. However, the bees need proper handling to be safe to all. Sounds like you...
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    Hello and help please!

    I would suggest that actually acquiring the bees is a little down the road. Learning a bit about caring for them, getting some basic kit etc. comes first. Suggest finding your local beekeeping association and speaking to them as a start A skep is good for collecting bees but not for keeping...
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