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Sorry if that wasn't clear, allow me to rephrase. Two weeks ago, I created a nuc using one frame of stores, four of brood and one unsealed queen cell containing a fat larvae and masses of royal jelly. I fed them using a rapid feeder, but otherwise left them alone. Today, two weeks later, the...

I got a new hive this year with a 2022 queen. I wasn't happy with the condition of the comb, so did a shook swarm onto fresh foundation. They've built up well this year and I put a super on at the start of June. To my surprise they decided to produce queen cells on 1st July. I did an artificial...

My main colony produced queen cells on 1st July. I took the best one and all the brood and put it into a nuc box with plenty of feed. They've taken down lots of feed (3L in 2 weeks) and there are plenty of bees in the box. The queen cell looks like it hatched, though a quick inspection didn't...

I'm just wondering what happens to the nectar flow during the long dry spell we're having in the UK at the moment. Presumably the flowers stop making as much nectar as things are dry. Obviously the weekly inspection should check for stores to take through to the next one, but would it be common...

I'm heartbroken, it's EFB. The inspector has advised that as it's quite advanced, a shook swarm is unlikely to work, so sadly destruction is the only remaining option.

I called the bee inspector this morning. He can't tell from the photos, but is coming this week to have a look.

I will contact the local bee inspector tomorrow to see if I can get him to have a look. I was wondering if maybe it's down to not enough nurse bees to feed the larvae. She's a 2022 queen.

I'll check for a rattle on next inspection. I treated with Apivar Life (Thymol) in September (the recommended 2 treatments. As far as I can tell, they are in good health (e.g. no sign of deformed wings). Here is one of the frames before shaking. They have plenty of stores (3+ frames) and are...

My colony seems to be doing well, but I'm a little worried about the brood pattern. Once I shook the bees off, it looks really sparse compared to what I would have expected. Should I be concerned? And the worst frame on the outside edge...

My bees are using all 11 frames in the brood. I have one broken frame near the centre, so I've swapped out one of the 4 frames of stores for foundation so once they've pulled it out, I can gradually work the broken frame out as the new frame works its way in. I'm going to have a go at...

Thanks all and good news - spotted the queen today and all is well. I also found tilting frames into the sun gave me a much better view down inside to check for eggs.

Is there a best way to replace an old brood frame? The nuc I got last year had pretty old frames, so this year I'd like to swap them to new ones. At the moment I have around 8 frames of brood and three of stores in the hive. As I'm starting out, I only have new foundation frames available. I'm...

Thanks all for the replies. I'll sit tight for a week and get a magnifier/light so I can see eggs next time. I am at 8 frames of brood, hence the super. There are also some drone cells present. The thing that threw me was the unusual cell which was too big to be a drone but too small to be a...

I inspected my hive last weekend and it's overwintered very well with lots of stores and bees. With 11 frames in use, I put a super on. Today, when I inspected I didn't see the queen and although there are capped cell and larvae, I didn't see any young brood (though my eyesight isn't amazing)...

Fantastic, thanks for the replies. It's reassuring to know the most likely reason is they don't need it right now! =)

Four weeks ago I put 1kg of fondant in the hive. It's accessed via the crown board where they previously had a rapid feeder. While they would happily consume 1:1 by the litre, their consumption of fondant is very slow with most of it still there. I've not opened the hive, but on the mild days...

The bees had other plans, they've expanded the brood into one of the honey frames, so I decided to leave them alone. Just clearing a partly pulled out super and then I'll get apilife var and feed on.

Yes, the attraction of that first honey. I will of course feed them well over winter. =)

It's my first year and my bees have only pulled out some super frames. However, I have 4x brood frames full of honey (plus more partial frames, so lots of stores). I'd like to take one frame and extract it. I don't have a spinner and as a new keeper, I'd like to keep the comb (so don't want to...

I never knew that you could have an adverse reaction to a subsequent sting. Good to know, thank you. I had assumed that it would the same or diminishing.