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Top tip that (y)

What sort of time-frames are you seeing? - from set-up to fully mated/laying and capped it's 3 weeks here, week 4 to check pattern/issues etc (4th week needs deeper management as they become populated).

Quick pic* while out gathering *resource* bees for something else. Fair bit of work goes into assessing sites/areas (over years) before the limits are found, bit like the early start(s) - takes time to learn but works out well and worth pushing the limits. *Only a few boxes use these little...

£4 is a decent price and very fair - i'm sure prices will be stronger this year.

Yes loads and tend to leave it for the bees/nucs/splits etc - not a great fan and pollen kills me. Also stops the bees hitting the chestnut (which is a pain).

Tons of Ivy here (vile stuff) and only just started looking at Ultra Bee, but that is more around drone production and II. Fondant winter (if needed) and OSR from the strong stocks is distributed if needed (rather than harvest) Lots of OSR around here, vile stuff but a huge help (hence the...

Spotted your post in what did you do today etc - This is why I start early; some stocks have 70kg + of stores, zero issues with drones/rearing/breeding/eggs/stores etc etc - granted a totally different part of the UK but my early work is paying off and the reason I do it. I'll be starting in...

Keep a few at the apiary.

Not white and no bother.

Thanks, i've never had an issue finding them or virgins (but they can be tricky in strong hives).

Yes agreed but want to do my best to save the queens I put a huge amount of work into breeding/rearing, currently 7 days work and only lost the odd swarm (due to error not process) - clipping is something I might consider.

Yeah, but this is around finding cells and acting on that (y)

Amount of eggs being laid, size of queen etc - generally if they stopped feeding her (she is slim) and there are less eggs they most likely about to fly away. This is off the back of finding cells, the amount and other factors (space/capped brood etc). Often/sometimes when finding cells, if the...

They still swarm under 7 days (like Fin Man said) on uncapped cells, but 7 days generally works most of the time and is better than 8 or 9 etc etc. You'll gain far more info from looking at the Queen and eggs than just Q-cells, the general state of the hive mind can also be a good indicator.

It can be done, but requires an insane person happy to work 100 hours a week for free for 3-5 years with a lot of capital investment before you start gaining anything back. I've gone from 1 hive to 100+, state of the art LAB and processing facilities, BFA/DASH/II and spent prob 80k+ and 1000's...

Workers will move eggs into Q-Cups, they also shape standard cells into Q-cells. I'd like to know how the queen lays 3 different types of egg, she lays an egg and it's either fertilised or not (unless there is some egg shaping/delay* based on cell size). Either way, Queens reared from *worker*...

This is not something any of the breeders/rearers I talk to practice or have come across (including myself), did check just to make sure it was not a thing.

Sharp stick made from a tree branch, love it.