Recent content by Vortex

It doesn't matter to the bees whether its crystallised or not .. they will use it just the same either way. If you put it above the crown board there is still the potential of contamination, especially with thymol based treatments. Just take it off (remembering to label it so you can identify...

I picked up a prime swarm from a wild colony 2 weeks ago .. barely the size of a tennis ball.. nice queen and laying nicely.

Ours(currently 7 of them) have the run of our back garden for 3 hours a day. The back garden is about 20ftx40ft.. they turned it into scorched earth inside a year. They won't touch brambles, will demolish raspberrys if under 4 ft in height, gooseberry and blackcurrent bushes and most things...

The FB method is a little hit and miss.. Sometimes the for sale threads on here are better, but there's a premium on that route. It's easier to sell in an existing Nuc box, just factor the replacement into the cost. The alternative is a corex box. These vary in price according to the supplier...

Saw the thread and didn't know much about the product.. Is this what you're after Polyhive? https://www.panelsystems.co.uk/product/xenergy-rtm-plus

I don't liquid feed too much hassle.. fondant is just so much easier at any time of the year..

I believe the East Dorset Beekeepers Facebook page has up to date information (the rest is being censored by the NBU)

Costco, and probably a few others, sell a plastic crate with a clip-on lid which is big enough to take a poly nuc. Takes about 10 litres of concentrated washing soda solution to fill about 1/3 deep. You can then insert poly nuc and clip on the lid. volume displacement raises washing soda level...

Don't the instructions advise to make up a 1:10 solution and then dilute, so 10g/litre and then dilute as required?

Your hive suffer less losses than wild colonies because you molly-coddle them.. ergo the two are no comparable. Hollow trees that snap in gales, generally do so long after they become hollow, and generally long after a colony of bees have taken up residence or abandoned said residence. Your...

Yes he does.. but the 3 to 4 feet depth of snow also acts as an insulator from the effects of both direct cold and wind chill, so whilst air temperature above the snow can be -20C or below the temperature around the hive, especially between the jacket and the hive body will only be a few C...

I've over wintered this size nuc before in a poly hive. Feed fondant not syrup and leave on all winter. I'm running Abelo 6 frame poly nucs with an acrylic crown board - which you have to buy separately (Just plastic will cut to size then use a 20mm hole saw to put a hole in the acrylic), then...

I'm with Poly hive on this one.. insulation all year round, acrylic crownboards in my abelo nucs (all year round - stops the wild combing in the roof) and feed with fondant. Much less phaff than trying to cart 40 gallons of syrup and feeders about.

Wrong..http://www.eps.co.uk/pdfs/eps_and_the_environment.pdf

Had one of mine do it.. shook them all out (50 ft away) and combined with a queen right colony.