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Checked on a newspaper unite done a week ago. Nice (but fairly small) Q+ colony below, spicy colony (hopelessly Q-) above. No sign of the queen in the lower box, plenty of emergency cells. I feared this would happen due to the difference in colony sizes and the temperament of the top box. I've...

It's a huge shock, that picture was taken a few days ago in the same woods, it could just as easily have been taken this morning before she ran off, and now she's just... gone. Telling the kids was one of the hardest things I've had to do - my youngest is 4 and I don't think she fully...

Sorry for the depressing post, but I need to unload somewhere... I lost my pup, Peanut, today. She loved other dogs and would usually run up to them and try and entice them to play, but for for whatever reason she saw a dog on our usual route through the woods and bolted. After 3 hours of...

Holly is just on the cusp here - some flowers open but not in full swing just yet. I've never seen to many buds on it though - does holly have mast years? Hawthorn is in full bloom and smells fantastic. Sycamore in my garden is finally in flower - later than others I've seen around here. Horse...

If you give the swarm some drawn comb the queen (if it's not a cast with virgin...) will lay it up very quickly. You can use that to test whether the other hive is queenless.

Inspected the out apiary today - the one I thought I was going to have to split had gone already. Noticeably fewer bees, couldn't see the queen and many charged cells, at least 2 of which were sealed. Doh! I reckon they went yesterday as Thursday was still chilly and I was up there around 10am...

Inspected my home hives - added a fourth super to my monster hive. 2 supers feeling rather heavy and in the process of being capped, the third has nectar in the central few frames - all packed with bees and I should probably have given the fourth super last week. The queen's still an absolute...

I had some foundationless super frames last year and they extracted ok.

Nor does the one in my garden, but I've seen 2 or 3 nearby as pictured.

Sycamore coming into flower, horse chestnuts another week or so away around here.

This is where the gasvap comes in handy. Blowtorch also useful for lighting smoker.

and hide queen cells at the top of the holes. Sneaky buggers.

Inspected all my colonies, 1 at home and 1 at my out apiary with qcups with eggs in, but not "properly" charged so I've just torn them down this time and moved the outside frames, which were largely empty, towards the centre so the queen can find more laying space. I'll have a nuc at the ready...

You say Kent, where exactly? Some parts are more remote than others ;) I've had emerged drones the past couple of weekends in Ashford, though noticeably more yesterday than the previous weekend. All my hives have a decent amount of drone brood in too. From a drone standpoint I'd say you're...

Whatever the ultimate solution, your friend needs to take many photos and document the process.

I didn't check but they looked a bit long for national... Make sure they're right before you need 'em in a hurry. Though if they're no good £2 for some smoker fuel isn't so bad :eek:

Drone brood - bonus varroa removal :LOL:

I overpaid for some 15lb buckets - new thankfully but I couldn't believe what some of the used buckets went for! Old Castle Farm ventilated beesuit for £40 (no holes that I could see and the zips work...) and some supers for £6 each were probably my best deals. Supers had some rodent damage but...

It doesn't hurt to be prepared as I'm straight up the motorway from Dover. If one comes in and gets out of its box of cauliflower the more traps the better!

This has appeared on the BBKA FB page and there doesn't seem to be a thread on it yet. Whilst you should all be vigilant, those in Kent need to be especially so. It's a bit close for comfort for me and I've ordered some Vespa Catch traps from Thornes. A good excuse to watch the bees for a...