Search results

Aly - that sounds good. Would you share your recipe with us please?

I took the second cleared Apiguard foil out today at the end of the treatment. Still a steady mite drop of around 7 a day, so I put in 2 Apistan strips to mop up the remainder. Question is, should the OMF tray be in (as with Apiguard) or out? I've checked the instructions on the Apistan box...

Took out last Apiguard tray - BB&1/2 full of bees, the 2 supers on top of the QE are nearly full of stores again. Bees took a dim view of the disturbance, so I didn't do a full frame by frame of the BB/1/2, but plenty of sealed and unsealed brood in the ones I did look at.

Back to topic! The Bee Inspector we have in this area is absolutely brilliant - patient, thorough and helpful. There was an outbreak of AFB in the district, so he was busier than a busy thing checking all the local hives. He's worth his weight in gold. Pete - how did your inspection go, BTW?

On my only hive 49lbs from 2 supers, and have left another full super as winter feed. Pleased with this, as original queen took off in May, and it was another month before a replacement was sourced and laying. Looking to set up a second hive in the spring - kit purchased and ready!

Thanks WMSB.

I've emptied 2 supers this last week, which the bees are cleaning up this week. I was going to take them off on Friday and leave the 3rd full super on for them when I start the Apiguard next week, accepting that the frames may be tainted next year (marking to show for bees' use only!)...

Who cares whether people calls their bees girls, ladies, HM or whatever? As long as they're enjoying beekeeping, that's all that matters. ;)

Finally saw the new queen today - beautiful golden girl. Building up brood nicely. Best wishes to others trying to get queen sorted.

Rosie, I use 2 types. I put the large ones (inverted glass domes)about 100 feet away in amongst the fruit trees. I also use jam jars with a hole in the lid and a mix of vinegar, water and jam right next to the hive, as suggested by experienced beek. Bees don't seem to be interested in them...

Kaz - best of luck. Hope you get loads of lovely new bees!

PPS. Special thanks to Dee of Woodreef Honey Farm for the queen cell and for her kind advice.

Did a full inspection today and thrilled to bits to find sealed and unsealed brood. Didn't spot HM, but she's been busy. Can't tell you how relieved I am.:) PS. New hive ordered to start a second colony, so I will have some other options if the queen goes AWOL in future .......

Managed to keep my hands off the hive for 3 weeks to give queen a chance. External checks showed the bees busy collecting pollen, coming and going. Looked inside today - queen has definitely hatched, but couldn't see her (possibly not surprising - lots of bees all over the BB frames and didn't...

Thanks Chickendave!

I'd checked the hive four times myself, then asked a v experienced beek to check as well. No sign of a queen or eggs and the sealed brood was rapidly diminishing as the bees hatched. Queen cell insertion was tried as I was unable to get a mated italian queen until next month. What I was...

Inspected the hive today, with the kind help of an experienced beek from our local association. He confirmed my suspicion that the queen had gone, and that there didn't seem to be any virgin queens present. Another generous lady offered me 2 queen cells from her hive, so collected them, chose...

Many thanks, Tom. Do you think I should wait a further week to see if a virgin queen appears? I didn't see any emergency queen cells when I looked yesterday, and I paid particular attention in case they were going this route. Bees, eh? Can't live with them, can't live without them. I'm...

Grateful for some advice, please. I got my bees last June and they overwintered well & built up nicely. I have a single National hive on brood and a half, with one nearly full super, and one empty one over the QE to give them room. 7 days ago, as I was doing a full inspection, I noticed HM...

Thanks to Gavin for the dilution advice. Treated the girls just now: used dilution rate of 25g sugar and 15ml water added to 100ml of the 6% solution. It was a lot easier using one of the Trickle 2 bottles to dispense the mixture. Only have one hive on brood-and-a-half so it was nice to see...