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As I had mentioned earlier, I heard that a friend was seeming the same thing that beeboy 55 was. I took a look last night as a second opinion, and saw the the perfectly good looking queen was laying well over 3 frames, but less than 1 percent were hatching into larvae, and it must have been like...

I have had someone saying the same thing, lots of eggs, but nothing hatching in the last 10 days. I am going to take a look later this week, so I will let you know what I see. If you can do the same I would appreciate it. My money is on the weather being a bit rubbish, and them not maintaining temps

I take the point that bees will do what they will. I am surprised and the 40L is crocks#it comment though. Seeleys research showed they had a strong preference for 40L, but even so occasionally they would choose something less optimal (size, orientation, height) 40L maximises the chance. To...

The advice is to use a box around 40L for a bait hive. Being somewhat lazy, and prefer to liberate something that was previously used for something else (repurposing is a new fangled term I have heard of late) I was wondering Has anyone found a source of a 40L + or minus 5L box that can be...

Anyone else see this... And think... Hmmmmm. Lots of bees, and it's a long way from Lancashire to Wales for a cut out. The "tree bee" company web site makes some curious reading too http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-37093003

I don't think it was inferior materials to be honest. All mine are p ynes, and they are all pretty good, except this one hive, where they have munched through!

I've had a hive in the same location for a number of years, but not the same bees, artificial swarms, and failing queens has allowed me to move it around a bit. It used to be facing towards a field, but in my infinite wisdom, I decided they would be better turning the hive 180 deg, facing a...

Can I add my voice to the "just requeen them", as it isn't always the answer. A couple of years ago I took a really nasty hive from a fellow beekeeper off this forum, as he was about to distroy them. He had to get rid as they were attacking members of the public on a right of way close, but...

Not much you can do at this time of the year tbh. I had the same late last year, and pretty much left them to it. In the spring I saw that something was laying. I went to mark the new queen, only to see the old queen wander past! After a fair amount of messing about did it become apparent that...

I've been keeping 5 or 6 hives now for six seasons at a couple of locations, and this year has been quite odd. All of them have requeened themselves, a couple more than once, and now the HB yield is disappointing, I maybe looking at only taking one super off this year, and feeding them again. I...

Yeah, you have pretty much missed the boat for this year. Most beekeepers will be busy tending their own bees around now. Have you looked at Lancaster beekeepers? Whilst it is a bit of a trek, I know Manchester start running courses in again in October. Another opportunity would be to find a...

I had the same thing a few weeks ago...the hive had a superceedure cell towards the end of last season, but I suspected it was too late to get mated, so I left them to it, on the basis they knew what they were doing. During an inspection I had classic drone laying queen patterns on lots of...

I used to have problems with wasps a few years ago with standard floors at my out apiary and had to narrow down the entrance just when HB was coming into flower, which felt a bit counter initiative. I then saw "Darlington floors" ( see the DIY section) which was a revaluation, and whist I have...

A quick update, the queen was duly despatched yesterday, and (hopefully) re queened today... As they were bouncing off my head today, I had the thought that if someone wanted to commit suicide, by letting a beehive get you, this hive would be the one to do it with. This hive could quite easily...

Goodness me, some folk are quick to judge. I don't think the OP has done anything wrong here, and in fact done the right thing. I would suggest he is far from being a novice. The siting of his hives have been at the edge of a field for a good number of years. He had a hive that turned vicious...

I will let you know how it gets on... And for the record it is by far the worst hive I have come across as well... So not looking forward to going through it to find the queen! They were bouncing off my head and welcoming us before we even started... Petrol may well be an option i resort to!

I can help you... PM sent

I did not do a full inspection, as it wasn't great weather..... I admit there might not have been any brood.... But that still does not explain where 4/5 frames worth of live bees went.... The, presumably now dead winter bees, were neither in the hive, or on the ground nearby

If they had starved three would have been a pile of dead bees, bees in frames etc... But there was none... And as I said, a quick inspection a couple of weeks ago they looked ok, with some pollen coming in