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Thanks Karsal, that makes sense, though maybe hefting is a bit of an art and would tell me more about the state of my back than the state of the colony. Nonetheless, I'll have to keep an eye on the food situation one way or another. I'd expected the fondant to last longer, which is what gave me...

Well, I did say I was a beginner, so my definition of a strong colony may well be off. On the other hand, since they have pretty much filled the frames, is it surprising that they would take down less syrup? Thanks for the answer about the fondant - it seems that I may have been too quick to put...

With virtually no heather flow, and robbing going on, I started feeding my two hives with 2/1 syrup in mid Sep. The colonies were strong, with lots of young bees, and the syrup was going at great speed (4 pints in <2 days). They abruptly stopped taking it down just as we began to have...

Thanks Everyone Lots of nuances here but there's a rationale running through it all and I can proceed with some confidence. As they say in writing: I've taken advice but any mistakes are my own.

Thanks Enrico. It's weird how you can read so many books but still not get straightforward answers and clear explanations to relatively simple questions. Maybe the books just need to be better indexed (or better read).

Thanks Amari, that is extremely helpful and makes perfect sense. I didn't realise that stores would be moved upwards into a brood box. 'Nadir' is a new word to me in the bee context, and isn't mentioned in anything that I've read. It should be. Having looked it up, I see that it's mostly used in...

Hi. As a beginner, I'm looking for some advice. My two hives are in their first year and the frames in the supers (one super on each) have thin foundation in them, with a view to comb honey. Both colonies are doing well but the weather has changed (Northern Scotland: who knew?), the drones have...

Ta, Finman. Can you tell me what is happening with those drone cells in the photo? Are the workers in the process of capping them? Since I pinched the cells out, it's too late for me to see the outcome.

Yup, Beefriendly, too true. These fell into a sort of grey area (in my head at any rate)

Demolition? Thanks. As most are agreed, probably drone cell. Having looked further at those photos, one thing that occurred to me is that these were charged queen cups but the workers are chewing the cell away, tearing them down (until I came along and did it for them). Which would be why they...

Photoshoot Photos attached, as suggested. Re the history, oliver90owner: this colony is one of two obtained as nuclei from a local supplier in June this year with a queen mated this year. As elsewhere in the UK, it’s been scorching up here for weeks on end. Yes, the colony is relatively weak...

Working on it Thanks all for the advice; I'm here to learn. I'll disturb them again tomorrow and take a camera this time. And you're right beeno, I wasn't sure. I take the point, Erichalfbee, about whether a super is necessary when the brood box is not entirely full. The idea was to create...

Please excuse me if this is a rank beginner's question, but I need to know anyway. I have a colony and a queen which are new this year. The colony is developing strongly and appears entirely healthy - not even varroa (so far). The queen is present and there is BIAS and capped and uncapped honey...