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3 weeks ago I thought I had a classic supercedure . One QC, on face of comb , old queen laying ( very slow) . Left them to it. Today that cell is still intact (no flappy lid), emerged emergency cells, with other cells open on their side, no eggs. Presume there is a virgin in there. Put in frame...

Despite getting the bbbka starvation alerts I have never had to feed my bees. It is an " alert", so I bear it in mind when I assess my own colonies, and act accordingly to what I find. 1-2 frames of stores is enough to get them through to next inspection. Feeding is a balancing act. Any sugar...

In a cage. Tab off after 2 days

I think it is suggested by Laurence at BMH. Bought one of his queens recently. Old one out, new one in worked a treat

Still a bit early. Try a test frame. I got 3 queencells out of top box. Left one there and 2 went in nucs. All are laying nicely. Top box now split off a d bottom building nicely. I like Demaree. Don't give up on it

However you choose to keep your bees, I urge beekeepers to think before doing and to work with the bees and not against them. Think what would the bees do in nature. For example, in the area I have moved to, open crown boards seem to be the trend. I have a job when I tell them I have solid...

After the courier delivered this to the wrong address, the uncapper arrived today. Garry was helpful and reassuring sorting things out. Well packed. Looks a good bit of kit. Hopefully I will have some frames to uncap come end of summer and let you know how it does. Can't believe the price...

Bees swarm. That is their natural behaviour. It can be aggravated if they do not have enough room in the colony. You say you are " light touch", that is probably the key with no swarm prevention procedures going on

All 3 queencells from top box of a Demaree have come good in their nucs. All have BIAS. No further signs of swarming in any colonies. Well chuffed. No problems with stores or build up but did supplement the nucs

All 3 queencells from top box of a Demaree have come good in their nucs. All have BIAS. No further signs of swarming in any colonies. Well chuffed.

I have found germination across the board has been poor this year, even those sown indoors

I would use a different QX though

Been away a few days so late with inspection. In the hive that I brought down from Essex with an ageing and slowly failing queen there was 1 capped queen cell on the face of the comb. HM was seen and still laying, albeit slowly. Hoping for the perfect supercedure.

Any cell built to produce a queen is a queen cell. I had one colony with an old queen, who was not laying well, produced just one queen cell. Supercedure cell says I, classic. They swarmed. It is the bees who decide the intention not the number ( or location) of any queen cells built. Bees will...

I started off with conventional framed hives and after a couple of years made two TBH's. I am glad I had some experience at handling bees before using top bars. Like Pargyle, in the end I converted them to long horizontal hives taking National frames. I agree with everything Pargyle says. It...

Never say never with bees . However they build emergency cells when they have no queen, they will not be in "swarm mode", so highly unlikely to swarm. 7 day inspections work well for me. Not lost a swarm for several years, but I do employ a fair bit of swarm prevention ( plenty of room, swapping...

I no longer run a TBH. My home made had 3 Cork sized holes along one side. One at each end and one in middle. Great for doing splits.

I did one about a month ago. Double brood absolutely bursting with 3 supers on. I harvested 3 queen cells from top box, into nucs, and yesterday I saw a virgin in one. Considering doing one on another colony next weekend.

About 3 weeks ago I made 3 splits from qc's in top box of a Demaree. Saw a virgin in one of them today and the other two had polished cells. Fingers crossed

Give a drop of water on the travel cage. Keep it quiet and dark and she will be OK in there for days if necessary, but as others have said the sooner the better