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Yes, it's me; three smashed metacarpals and five severed tendons, but (@The Poot ) healing extremely well, I've even had hives open one handed over the last couple of days. Not easy but someone's got to do it . Grafting may be an issue but the Miller method should be a doddle.

DEEP travel screen and a second, good, pair of hands. Yes, this is a serious answer.

Should blend in well with the multitude of robotic beekeepers out there then. On a serious note it was actually nice to skim through this old thread.

Holding the cage upright so that the opening is at the bottom helps, the queen and workers tend to walk upwards away from the door; as madasafish said, thumb over the door between loading individual bees.

I reckon that nostalgia keeps me going through the winter - some of my earliest memories involve bees in one way or another; and beekeepers who I'll never see again outside of those memories. Once we get to this time of year it's now just sheer enjoyment of being around bees. Having had major...

and, a young queen looks younger than an old one, I don't think this is a matter of experience, just eyesight.

Quite possibly a supersedure queen from last autumn that failed to mate

Not sure it's scare mongering, simply that times have changed. We did lots of stuff before that perhaps wouldn't be a brilliant advert if repeated today. As always, I take the view that everyone should do what's right for themselves but there's no point in asking a question if there's only one...

Informative interactive herdlike

The first part of my post pretty much covers the actual reality. We all do as we see fit. Personally, going forward, I see no gain to myself or anyone else who sells honey by advising the use of such boards. So I don't.

I can remember some of the old boys soaking hive bodies in sump oil as a standard procedure and I'm sure there are still lots of very old creosote *soaked* hive bodies in use which no longer show any sign of the creosote -until you cut in to them to make a repair, then you smell the stuff...

But it's not the diverse combination which we might expect from an uncontrolled congregation area either, which might be of real concern outside of a very intense breeding program despite B+ stating: "it isn't the number of drones a virgin queen mates with that is significant but that they are...

Which just shows how clueless 'plenty of people' must be. Quite different from the way I understand B+ description; to me, it reads that he's using what is undoubtedly reduced diversity compared to that resultant from free mating in a natural congregation area but nevertheless he clearly states...

Well I can see where @Curly green finger's is coming from with this although I must admit that I can't really see where he was going! The 'hive year' thing is definitely something which has been mentioned in passing in the past, I'm pretty sure on this forum too. Does it prove anything? In...

As I said before, I have no real issue either way. I've certainly clipped 100s of queens in my time, possibly low 1000s without any issue at all. I don't bother now but that's because I don't feel the need with the bees I have, very low swarm inclination. My as yet unfinished thoughts about...

More, but natural, rather than manmade added risk?

Yes, absolutely.

Re clipping: I don't have strong views (anymore) either way having clipped/not clipped. But a question I don't remember being asked by anyone is, in a time of potential high virus loads is it wise to be creating open wounds especially to queens. Maybe there's no issue at all.

I think @Curly green finger's misunderstood the nature of the auctions that I suggested he may be seeing in a couple of years. I certainly didn't mean that his time would be well spent trawling the countryside for the odd gem. Perhaps I'm too cynical for my own good but there are some over...

Do you find them to be calm on the comb when full size?