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Well, I am not sure, in hindsight, whether or not I had a complete swarm. It's hard to estimate but I would say there were enough to fill a couple of frames. They are back today and there seems to be a lot of bees flying around, but I am reluctant to open it up again. I may let them...

Hello, I have a poly BS National brood box with a single frame of drawn comb in. I've set it up as a bait hive to try and attract a swarm. Yesterday it was buzzing with activity for the first time (it's been set for around 3 weeks), so I filled the rest of the box with frames with foundation in...

Thanks for all the replies. It seems a bit of a split decision - but ultimately no harm in having it on there. Maybe next year I'll try it without for comparison (assuming I'll have at least two hives by then). As I only have one hive and it's yards from my house I'll just keep on checking...

Ahhh, okay. I have a mesh floor. I have a poly hive with an entrance reducer, but I heard that the mice are able to squeeze through those gaps, so I thought it prudent to put the mouse guard on to be on the safe side. It's on there now, so I guess I will leave it on as it will do no harm and...

Hello, I have fitted a mouse guard to the entrance of my hive - do I reduce the number of holes or them all open? I don't want to give them too much space and let the cold get in, or give them too little and they overheat. The colony is in a national hive with about 4/5 frames of sustenance in...

Amazing. Thanks both. I feel as though I've bothered them enough over the past two days, so I'll give them a night off and then install my poly brood box and hope that feeding from me and foraging from them will do the job.

Today's basic question. The hive I inherited which I thought was a national, may not be a national. I took the frames out with the aim to swap them into my better hive, but they do not fit. The size of the frames are: 16.5 inches across the top and 12 inches deep. I've googled, but can't see...

Yes, you're probably correct. I've kind of found myself becoming a beekeeper sooner than I was expecting. So, there will be a few more seemingly obvious questions to come from me over the coming months. I've joined my local bbka group, so I'm sure they'll have a lot of advice for me, but...

I can try and patch some of the rotten wood to stop the drafts over winter. They are in a very sheltered spot, which stands in their favour. Would you suggest I help them out by feeding sugar syrup, or should they be okay to continue filling the frames out naturally?

Long story short, I have acquired an old home-made ply hive that I would like to transfer the brood from and into a new poly hive that I have. The reason I would like to swap is because the ply hive is rotting and I don't think it'll survive the winter. The current frames in the ply hive are a...

Great - thanks for all the advice. Yes, the bees have been in their new home since Thursday evening. I'll move them tomorrow daytime when many of them will hopefully be otherwise engaged.

Yes, the frames are old but serviceable. Will it make much difference what time of day I do the swap?

Hello, I've been gifted a hive with bees from a kindly gentlemen who is having to give up beekeeping due to health reasons. The bees are in my possession and doing well in their new location. Unfortunately the hive that they're in is made from ply and fairly rotten. It is just a brood box with...