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What should i do about frames of mouldy pollen? Will the bees clean them out or should I put new foundation in? I imagine it’s a trade-of between the value to the bees of the drawn comb vs the effort to clean them. My hives seem to have a lot more mould in this year than last. I’m wondering why.

Thanks everyone

Another potentially silly question: if there is already a super on (I left a super of stores as winter feed on two of my colonies last autumn) should that come off before vaping? Or, to put it another way, given that Oxalic Acid is toxic to humans I believe, presumably OA vaping would...

OK, thanks. Unfortunately I didn't investigate it more thoroughly at the time so I can't say whether it was genuine drone brood or brace comb. Just been out to look at the hives and am pleased to see lots and lots of pollen-laden bees going into all three. They seem nicely active. And the...

I was reviewing my notes on last year's activity as I contemplate the first inspection of this year. I noticed that I had recorded something that puzzled me at the time and I wonder if I'm missing the explanation for it. I'd inspected the colony last year at around this time (23rd March), found...

Thanks.

And (at the risk of being flamed) is there any truth in the suggestion that vapping in this build-up period might put the queen off laying for a period? Or is that just an OWT.

Thanks. The video that Ian directed me to was very helpful. I've enquired of my local BKA as to whether they have sublimators that I might borrow. Otherwise I guess I'll have to buy one.

Thanks Ian

Thanks. I haven't got a vaporiser but I've seen them advertised. I've also read horror-stories of people gassing their colonies and so I'm keen to do it properly and not muck it up. I was hoping that there might be some sort of step-by-step guide and/or recommended equipment that I could study.

Is there an *****'s guide to treating with Oxalic Acid anywhere on these pages? I've read of dribbling and vapourisation, and I've seen some bits and pieces elsewhere on the internet. But I'd be grateful for guidance as to how to do either. I treated my colonies with Apiguard in the Autumn but...

Thanks everyone. To answer JBM's questions: I'm pretty sure that he gave no varroa treatment in the autumn. The queen was a 2nd year queen that I'd given him in the Spring. His colony had built-up well from May onwards last year (despite very little attention) and he had taken off about 10 kg...

A friend of mine has a colony in my apiary that has died out through what I assess was Isolation Starvation. What remained of the cluster was all dead in one corner of an empty DN frame, including the poor queen. What surprised me (as a beginner helping him diagnose the loss) was the sheer...

Robbing may be part of the explanation. In my little apiary a friend keeps a hive also. He has been somewhat negligent about feeding his and when I peeked into the hive last week it was clear that they had died. If they died of isolation starvation then it may be that whatever remained of any...

I had a quick weigh/peek today into my three hives. To my surprise all three were at precisely the same weight as they had been when I last weighed them at the start of January, shortly after putting a slab of fondant onto each. All three colonies seem busy with plenty of flying bees and yellow...

A friend keeps a hive in my apiary. The entrance block of his shows evidence of something trying to get in or to widen the entrance. As you can see, there are quite substantial chips of wood which makes me think it's a bird or an animal. But none of my hives have been affected. Any ideas at to...

In a related question, I have quite a few frames that have been spun out but have patches of crystalised honey left in them. What's the best way of feeding them back to the bees?

Interesting. OK, I'll try that. Last year I had one super between the BBs and one on top.

Does one not end up with an ever-increasing number of colonies..?

As I understand it (but v happy to be corrected - I'm still very much a beginner), Step One is, as soon as there are 6-7 frames of brood, to remove all but 1 of the frames of brood from the Q+ BB and put them into an upper Q- BB above the QE and super, replacing the spaces left in the lower BB...