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:welcome:

Not worth effort.

:welcome: After 15 years beekeeping the bees teach me new lessons every year. Mostly to assume nothing without checking carefully.

Although I usually go gloveless, I glove up for known defensive colonies..35 stings per hand is the kind of dosage which could trigger all sorts of things. (my worst is only 26 in one session and c 230 in a year. Yes I count them!)

I believe colonies will not accept egg transfer. (I have tried - and failed) I would think the article above is referring to three day old eggs on the boundary of becoming a larva - which is accepted.

Easy solution . Clean out feeder, Thoroughly. with warm water and a kitchen pot cleaning brush. Melt lots of beeswax - pour into feeder, Ensure all surfaces - especially near the bottom are covered with a thin layer. (this requires a plan to do one side at a time... as the wax will quickly...

Ditto: 9C and light drizzle and bees flying...

My stronger colonies have not been fed, are filling a Lang jumbo brood box and if not supered would be making swarm preparations. I am sure that with the weather there are lots of hives which have survived in a simlalr fashion - but have not been inspected or supered due to the weather,,

Eventually installed a nuc into a full hive for a beginner at her home. It was 7pm and raining and 9C. We finished in 15 minutes: no stings and very few bees flying around:-) (They were very calm bees)

19C!!! Inspected all my nucs, quick cursory glance at production hives. Drones in most. One nuc with capped supercedure QC. (Q seen last visit 2 weeks ago ) Three to be split: did one with overwintered Q, other two will have to wait, Added frame of bees and capped brood to one weak one. (Air...

Beekeeping is subject to vagaries of the weather, Period. So consistency in anything weather related is not to be expected in the UK.

I am not rich enough to gamble on queen rearing by introducing Qs with air freshener. <Cough> Or should I say too mean?

I mix undrawn foundation with drawn.. speeds up drawing.

I regularly use air freshener: even adding a frame of brood plus bees (not including a Q!) to a weak colony.. Makes strengthening far more effective. Works so far 100% ..since 2018 Cheap air freshener is less than a broadsheet newspaper.

Well yes: once I have anything to report but despite it being 14C - up 5C from the past few days - it is windy with 30mph gusts.. so no trials yet (and no drones in any volume). I have actually added another set of cells with 9mm diameter instead of 10 mm so two tries for the price of one. I...

Liked your description of your reaction to bees..Some people find the contrast between description in videos and reality too much! Hope you continue to enjoy beekeeping: May I have some of your hair please as I am nearly bald? :eek:

I read The Apiarist on an irregular basis and occasionally take up his great ideas (tilter for jar filling as an example). He has recently written a couple of articles on bigger better Queens. See Part 2 https://theapiarist.org/bigger-queens-better-queens-part-2/ So I decided to have a go at...

Avon Skin So Soft (Original) works for me. (Bare hands) Deters bees and keeps my hands soft and clean. My £15 ebay smoker is now 15 years old. Mind you it ls rather repaired... and modified with a wooden base wired to it so I can place it safely on poly hive roofs..

Pity such hives are too small and are a paradise for swarms.. (Based on my experience with TBHs) EDIT:But with 40 frames - for two colonies - maybe not.

I painted my first poly hive using Hammerite Garage Door paint in green: a solvent based paint. The solvent dissolves a little of the poly to form a tightly adhering skin and 9 years later it looks like new (when washed). But expensive and ages to dry in winter - just use cheap masonry paint...