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James is correct, according to Tom Seeley (‘p82, The Lives of Bees). After a wild fire consumed 2,500 acres of Cape Point Nature Reserve, three investigators inspected 17 previous nest sites in rock cavities. All 17 colonies were still alive but some had melted propolis at the entrance and some...

Yes, that’s right. The natural reaction to smoke which naturally could only mean a nearby forest fire. If you take our a frame after smoking you can see the bees with heads into all the open honey cells, yes?

You do seem to delight in the crudest way to treat bees. Swarms naturally flow into a new cavity, forming a cluster inside , not a heap.

You have received good advice - but I feel. I should comment. Remember, 2 bkprs = at least 3 opinions! The Vevor hive was a generous gift but should not fix your entry into bkpg. It is usual - but not essential - to keep only one type of hive - and your will need at least 3 hives (2 active...

I know I am prejudiced against BBKA training courses that are run in winter with no contact with bees. But my advice would be to find a beekeeper who would enjoy company and go with him/her at every inspection for at least one year, chatting and asking questions untill all is clear - or perhaps...

Continuing …. add supers - and later split to avoid swarming Split to avoid swarming, just cut brood nest in half with division board , check a week later to see which half has queen and which is rearing new queen, sort frames into ‘artificial swarm with queen , and ‘parent’ that has developed...

Fair enough - but if you do not add supers for the honey crop then it is not fair to say a Long Hive does not produce as much honey. i have posted that management of a long hive for honey, used in ‘combination mode’, is much easier . Noone has yet challenged that - yet! But to illustrate: winter...

Did you keep them as just one level long hives - or did you try putting on supers when the main flow started?

Very pleased to hear of other experimental tall-narrow brood frames being tried. I have made one tall-narrow so far, one using two layers of ply - very cumbersome - and one by adding an eke to a DLD hive to increase depth to 12 + beespace + shallow frame depth, so about 18ins, same as...

Another

Here are some pics from Pinterest showing just 7 combs for brood in wild nests, just to back up my view in earlier post

Entirely up to you of course - but I really would advise against a 30 frames long hive, presumably for ‘standard’ 8 1/2 in deep frames as these will come from a double brood Nat. The frames are too shallow for the northern hemisphere - we are not in Africa needing to throw off heat as with a...

The beehaus is a polypropylene ‘long combination’ hive derived from the Dartington Long Deep hive - they gave me £5,000 for use of the copyright. It comes in a large cardboard box - you bolt on the legs and you’re off! However, polypropylene is highly sensitive to temperature in the mould, so...

You have been offered comprehensive answers to these key questions - but limited to ’conventional ‘ beekeeping in UK, which is well developed but arguably ‘stuck in a rut’ , perhaps due to the fully developed education system of BBKA that is inevitably slow to adapt to new science - and its...

I have no experience with heather honey. No heather in north Hertfordshire!

I drill holes in the bottom of a shallow plastic storage box which then fits into a similar but deeper plastic box. The solid comb goes in to the top box and the two boxes just fit into the electric oven at home. I turn on the centre grill and set temp at 50 degC. In theory, only the top layer...

I also find an ‘acurate’ electronic scale constantly shifts about. Any explanations? Can be wind pressing on the hive side - or even the bees moving around inside? I am going back to using a doctor’s mechanical scale - weighs to 1/2 a lb if I read on a line or midway Between lines.

Sorry to hear so many beeps have damaged hearing due to previous lifestyles. At 85 my hearing is losing the high notes, so conversation in a crowded place is difficult - but my apiary is quiet so all the more reason to spend time there. what I am trying to do is to find ways for external...