Search results

Thanks for taking the time to write that out. The cage was one of those standard green plastic ones (not sure what the technical term is), shaped like a matchbox with a sliding lid. One of the runners was damaged and the lid just fell away rather than sliding off. I called a guy who's been in...

At that stage it was bulging with bees

Thanks but I think that's a bit harsh. If the first queen had hatched without the damaged wing, if the emergency queen had been a success, if the ordered queen hadn't arrived 4 days late - these things were out of my control and I had to react accordingly. I'm not worried about the bees...

Yep, plenty of ventilation. My only concerns at the moment is water for the queen, how safe she is at the hands of her new attendants and whether keeping the bees locked up are likely to make them less willing to accept the queen when I release her

Thanks for the answers. I have taken action this morning, whether it is the right action remains to be see. Checking on the queen first thing I found her feeding and being attended by the remnants of the original split, no more than 20. I don't have the setup or the time to try the newspaper...

This post continues from a related one I made earlier, which covered my last desperate attempt to save a situation. I'll leave you to decide which of the problem I list are due to my errors and which are just bad luck. So a few weeks ago I carried out a split. 3 frames of bees with brood...

I have a split for which I've needed to buy in a queen. The queen arrived in a cage with 6 attendants. 2 of those attendants have now been killed and it looks like the resident bees are doing all they can to finish off the rest. Is there anything I can do to avert disaster?

No sign of varroa. I think I may have damaged the QC when I moved the frame during the split

Dammit, that's what I feared. Thanks

Afternoon. I carried out a split last week and was rewarded with a new queen 6 days ago. I've just had a quick look n her nuke and there's a problem, one of her 4 wings (the lower left), looks like it failed to develop, it still has that stringy, unfurled look that wings of newly hatched bees...

This is my concern, the bees present have enough to do without giving them more brood. I think I'm just going to shake a few hundred in and see how it goes. They were only separated a few days ago so hopefully family ties still bind :-)

Yep, some emerging brood and I think we're OK on the frame balance. It just feels like there aren't enough bees in there and I'm worried about new bees attacking the just hatched queen.

I carried out a split on Monday and have been rewarded with a newly hatched queen. Of the bees present in the new NUC, some are engaged in foraging, others in domestic chores. There's a healthy mix of brood, pollen and honey stores. My one concern is the number of bees. I shook in several...

Thanks again to everyone for the words of encouragement. I'm back on the bike

Thank you all for the replies and the gentle manner in which you delivered them. It's not an easy problem to own up to, especially given my rugged good looks and my 40 year Indiana Jones wannabe demeanour ;) I have a really good ventilated suit but it's getting on a bit. The tear occurred at...

A couple of weeks ago I decided to carry out my first full inspections of the year. First Hive no drama, but during the second inspection I noticed too late that I had a rip in my veil and a hood full of angry bees. It all happened fairly quickly, I received 14 stings to the face and neck and...

What an excellent post Eric, it made me smile and brought back a few memories that made me shudder. So much truth in it. I'm sure it's the same for most of us who got past the second year, and came to the understanding that even if we can't control them we can increasingly understand our bees...

If it's your first year I would stay on single brood as it makes inspection so much easier. You'll notice when the drone population hits peak and it probably won't be until around May, so don't panic, you have plenty of time. When we're into the spring you can start your weekly inspections, once...

This year has been without drama, my first in four years of beekeeping. Neither of my hives swarmed (I was experimenting with splits and moving things around), and both produced good amounts of honey. Only got stung once as well. So all in all a relaxed, pleasant, beekeeping year.

A couple of things for winter. You should see that the number of bees in your hive are decreasing gradually. All of the drones should be gone. You should get one last flurry of activity later this month as your local ivy blossoms and the bees forage from it. As soon as that's done then you...