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Yes, I wondered about that in regard to my and Newbeeneil's experience of swarms clustering on the underside of bait boxes. Several individuals went in and out of the bait box, since but the waggle dance gives direction and distance, there may be no way to indicate 'no direction, just an inch...

And... drum roll...the answer is: at least 7 days. They swarmed on Monday 26 July 2021 and, after a week of cool, wet weather, they flew off today, Monday 2 August 2021 - having inspected and then rejected 4 delicious bait boxes that I had set up to tempt them. I was privileged to see them go...

Ah. I see - that makes sense. I reckon that if they were already with a Q and 'tuned in' to her, they're unlikely to desert her for a different one.

That's an interesting idea too. I reckon there's a lot of comedy potential in swinging a caged queen about. Although I wonder what happens since there's already a queen with the swarm - are they attracted by another queen?

I hadn't heard of that before but it is a brilliant idea. I just watched the video at Whistle Thicket about it, and it's very appealing. I'm wondering whether I could make a contraption to hold two or three standard brood frames that could be lowered directly into a brood box, without any...

Yup. Just like that. And people say that bees are intelligent!

Oddly, this one is in a spruce which was immediately next to an elm that I had to fell when it succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease. Pity, the elm would have given them better shelter and just maybe they'd have made it through.

This lot have got a nuc in a tree about ten metres away and a brood box on a stump at the bottom of the tree they're in, but still not getting the message. I'm a lemon grass advocate too, and it seems to work. I think the problem here is just that it's wet and cool. Assuming they don't drown, I...

Unfortunately, it's a substantial tree - pretty unshakable - and surrounded by heavy undergrowth. I've borrowed a cherry-picker in the past and taken a swarm down from an otherwise unreachable position, but there's no way to get near this one. I'm not desperate to get it for my own purposes, but...

Well, that's the record so far. Maybe there's hope for them yet

Well, that's the record so far. Maybe there's hope for them yet.

A few years back I 'captured' a swarm which decided to cluster on the underside of a nuc that I'd hung in a tree as a bait box. I kept waiting fo them to move into the nuc, but it seems there's no dance move to indicate 'immediately above your head'. After four days, I saw that they were...

Okay - got that one

Yes. I was afraid that was probably the position. Anxious wait. I'll have another listen on a warmer day and hear how that goes. Thanks too for the reassurance re dead bees on the snow. Next year I'm going to put in perspex or glass crown board for winter so that I can at least check on the food...

Too quiet in there It's my first winter (with 2 colonies) and there are snowcaps on the hives, so thanks for the advice about that. I last checked the food on 1st Jan and there were about 2kg of fondant left on each. I'm in the habit of listening with a stethoscope and usually there's a quiet...

Dead bees on snow Did an external check of my two hives today (-3.5 degrees C - so not inclined to open them). There were half a dozen dead bees lying on top of the snow that's been lying for 4 days. It's my first winter and I wondered whether it's usual to find small numbers of dead bees outside.

Thanks Enrico - It wasn't something I'd been aware of. As you say, if she's laying drones now (or not long ago) there's nothing I can really do about it yet.

It's the 1st January (Happy New Year) and I'm in the North of Scotland. My two colonies seem to be overwintering just fine and they have fondant on. The weather has been up and down a bit but it has been down as low as -7 centigrade and the pond has been frozen over half a dozen times since the...

Thank you for that. Yes, sugar is sugar, whatever the form. I think that I may not have expressed my initial query quite the right way. It wasn't that I expected putting on fondant to change what was happening: it was really whether, in putting on fondant, I'd responded appropriately to what was...

Thanks Beeno. Yes, since there are at least some new bees on the go, and little forage to be had, it seems that they're going to be lapping up the fondant for some time yet. The varroa strips have been in a for a few weeks, but only a handful of varroa have dropped out, so here's hoping it stays...