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Sadly the piggery has been repurposed and is now a chicken shed. It's bird proof since the bird flu precautions. The owl box is facing more or less West and various large established trees provide protection from strong winds albeit at a distance. We do see hunting owls around and our...

My son bought an owl box from an organization (I think it was the owl trust) and we put it up on the end of an old piggery about 20 years ago. Even a tiny CCTV camera inside it. There's never been an owl even look at it. I think a pigeon investigated this spring but it's still not occupied

Agree about the standard of many US YouTube videos with the exception of J P the Beeman. His confidence in swarm catching and cut-outs can be entertaining. He does have his funny ways and his humour can be off-puting. However he tackles jobs which would send bbka safety advisors dashing for the...

Honestly I'd try a mini-scaffold tower to support the box. Also another thought regarding persuading bees to come out of the cavity would be to use a thin hollow probe to introduce a squirt of "Bee-Quick" into the deepest part of the cavity añd around the second entrance. I've used it for the...

LOL that's a mistake you're unlikely to repeat. We've all had spilt honey, some more so than others.🤣🤣🤣

I'm looking at this on a tablet so image quality isn't clear enough to be sure. A scale to show size would be helpful but I wouldn't rule out one of the species of miner bees. Can you tell from accessible positions if they're all using the flue as entry point or if they are using multiple small...

I'd have to search out Derek Mitchell's research file from previous years when humidity levels in insulated hives were found to influence varroa populations. Maybe there's more study of the inter relationship between humidity and OA strip treatment required?

Yes but never make the mistake of setting the super into the deep roof. It's tricky getting a decent hold of to lift it out again.

Sorry to start with a negative but 1 day is NOT adequate training. This is a strange year and you MIGHT be successful in an immediate venture but waiting for spring is a much more sensible start. Is there a local competent beekeeper who would let you shadow them for the remainder of the season...

Part of my career was Factory Engineer at a Glucose refinery which used Farina (potato starch) as it's raw material. Like most carbon containing powder compounds it was explosive if suspended in Air. Consequently we were "visited" by the factory inspector more than most. We soon realized he...

Stick with the mk1 Lyson National hives and you don't have that problem.

Welcome to the asylum. When you get your bees I'd recommend you enlist a bee buddy with good joints and muscles. A super full of honey can be a real strain on your own. Various mechanical aids are marketed but those I've seen require a decent flat hard surface to wheel them about on. That point...

Many of the published beekeeping books seem to be collections of regurgitated ideas from other beekeeping books. If you're lucky they regurgitate sensible ideas but if you're unlucky they regurgitate the fantasies too. Beekeeping magazines are no better. By all means read but apply critical...

LOL it's mixed with sugar additive which I understand has been used to great effect as a precursor to sugar and fertiliser explosive by various organizations and many teenage boys (and girls?) with a scientific interest. 😎

Just an update regarding the new 12 frame radial cage. I spent part of yesterday and some of today extracting super frames. Thinking back to the grief I used to get from arthritic wrists, having an electric motor doing the turning has been a godsend. I also realized a 12 frame cage has a...

This year is breaking all the expected norms for swarm calls. May, June and early July passed pretty quietly but the local Facebook Groups are full of swarm help calls over the last week or so and apparently the calls are genuine ie for honeybees. There seems to be a few almost every day at the...

Sod that - mine have gone back on for the late harvest this year. If the weather permits there's plenty of local forage still around.

Stick to white it's easier to see.😆

The UK have a talent for gold plating regulations. It keeps our civil service in employment. (Out of interest have any members here been watching the televised post office inquiry? One can't help wondering what the various members of the monitoring hierarchy were doing throughout their tenure...