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Thanks again for all the advice, it's been fascinating reading even if it has muddied my thinking. But, I have decided on a course of action. I'm going to inspect them tomorrow, it will be ten degrees cooler, maybe that will make a difference. I've left two frames of capped ivy honey from last...

Yeah I think my humour is a little too dry following the week I've had ;) I may look into a having them adopted, but I'm not sure why anyone would want them, or indeed how I'd feel about inflicting them on someone

I'm very grateful to all of you who have taken the time to reply and offer advice. Some general updates. Killing the colony is a last resort, but going with my gut instinct I'm inclined to do so. I've only been a beek for 7 years but I have handled and been around several hundred colonies in...

Seems like a split consensus from he big brains on how to handle things.....good old beekeeping. I'm going to sleep on it and decide tomorrow when the pain from the stings isn't clouding my thinking. Thanks for all the advice

They'll sting you if you get within a few feet of the hive, today was the first time they've attacked en mass. They've been inspected on a monthly basis and have been aggressive but not so much that they've been unmanageable, today they were extraordinarily so

Thanks. I was leaning towards that method. Hate to do it but I see no other option.

Eggs and brood in all stages, so she's definitely in there and active

Compared to my other two colonies they've been aggressive but not so much that I haven't been able to work through it. Today was something else though. I've been in this hobby for seven years now and this was by far the worst I've ever seen.

It was a beautiful, clear-sky, sunny day here. Something just doesn't feel right with them, I was under attack before I had my hive tool out of my pocket

Any recommendations for how to terminate them?

One of my colonies is from a captured swarm (this years and from an unknown source). I've dealt with aggressive colonies in the past and whilst it can be a bit unnerving I always manage to get the job done. But not this time. I harvested honey from my other two colonies yesterday, nice and easy...

I always go with one super on over the winter and it's worked well so far. I certainly agree that supplying them with food (in this case fondant), might explain why the ivy is being neglected, but there are other periods of the year where the ivy is present and the fondant isn't, and the ivy...

Yes, I absolutely agree regarding convenience. I'm curious though as to why I've never seen it consumed or moved, even when left in the middle of the first super above the brood box.

I think you might be onto something with the late ivy. My girls were bringing it in well into November

It's the same every year, the bees forage on masses of ivy around the garden in the autumn, usually filling a couple of supers per colony. It remains untouched through the winter and I inevitably end up feeding. Then in the spring it remains untouched. The last couple of years I removed most of...

I popped my garden hive open yesterday to feed the bees, there's plenty of ivy honey stores but it's very hard in these cold temperatures. The cluster was nice and deep and looked good but it got me wondering at what temperature would I nee to insulate (something I haven't done previously). The...

Weight is a good indicator of the amount of stores as Erich said, the hive should be heavy going into late autumn. Bear in mind that until early October bees will be bringing in Ivy and other late flowering plants. So mid October is a good time to make a judgement on feeding. I've had them fill...

Some days will just be off days, humans have them and bees have them. If erratic behaviour persists then look into it, but don't worry too soon.

Coincidentally my aggressive colony is very dark (about 90% black), compared with my hippies which are a standard Buckfast colouring. A friend from the local BKA stopped by the other day and proclaimed the aggressive colony as 'not that bad' so I find that somewhat comforting. They're the worst...

I'd say it was the same for both colonies, generally if I'm having a 'bee day' I'll do whatever needs doing with both hives.