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Tangential or radial extractor?

I would be inclined to get a queen in for a few days time and check thoroughly that there are no queencells remaining before putting her in. I have had a little sac brood on occasions but I'm not too bothered about it. It can be disconcerting to find it as a new beekeeper and you were right to...

I was going to suggest that if there are hives at the old site, any bees that return can find their way into those. Problem solved. Factors will include the location of any forage compared to their old and new location. And I am pleased that you did not shut them in for a day - not a good idea.

What does 'a split' mean? Are you talking of a honey producing part or not? Note that a broodless period - which you will probably have with a new queen - tends to reduce mite infestation. And when broodless you can always use oxalic acid. Do you have a varroa problem that you are aware of?

Bees sometimes throw up queencells after the books say they should. An option (and there's no right and wrong answer in this case) would be to 1) use minimal smoke and have a careful look for a virgin running around. 2) Toss a coin and decide whether to remove the queencells or not 3) If you...

I would be inclined to remove the queencells - virgins can be difficult to find. If, in the process of removing them, you find a viable virgin, then you might like to cage her until the mated queens arrive. Depending on the amount of brood in the nucs which you have not said, you would not want...

Bees can be feisty after the OSR has finished, even if they were all fine before-hand - not all colonies exhibit this trait though. It's part of the selection process for me.

How long with the frame of brood be in-between hives? I have used a house-brick in a nuc - put the brick in boiling water for a few minutes so it heats up. You then have a (damp) heat-store within the nuc where the frame of brood will be.

If they need to draw comb in which to store honey, they will. However without a queen in the hive, honey will be stored in the brood frames so once the queen has emerged and is maturing, bees will make space for her to lay in the brood box so the honey will have to go somewhere. Upstairs in the...

I have used starter strips without problems. However once you get some drawn comb and want to expand or replace old comb, you'll have drawn comb as guides where starter strips can be placed in between the drawn stuff. Sometimes bees don't do as they are told. You need to give them a stiff...

Whether it's Buckfast, Carnis or Ligustica, you can still get nasty crosses as their genes mix with the locals a couple of generations down. Buckfast seem to have the worst reputation in this regard. (Is it justified?). That's why I rear from my best each year and they are decent bees as they...

It's very easy to bash the BBKA (Or they make it very easy to be bashed). It's a long time since I looked at the BBKA website which hasn't changed for a few years and is more PR and 'Give us some Money' rather than something for beekeepers who actually pay for it. (A bit like when you go onto a...

Zest hive?

Putting a few beehives on a piece of land does not make it a garden. There are a hundred beekeepers on this forum who have bees on land and the land doesn't suddenly become someone back garden by default. That's just crackers. Putting a couple of hollow logs on the land (log gum) which bees...

It's December. Leave the bees alone!

Result! :)

Get the council to do some work and ask them what case law is there to back up their view. Why are the council getting involved in any case - has there been cause for someone to complain to them for any reason? Is the council thinking that you might ultimately claim the fenced off paddock as...

How heavy is the hive? That will tell you a lot!

I might add some otherwise unsellable honey into syrup as I am a skinflint and don't want to waste it, otherwise it's not worth the bother. Sugar syrup or fondant is fine. When it's cold, fondant needs to be on the top bars of the hive so it can easily be reached.

Unless you sell it from the gate; in which case the great unwashed don't step foot on your land at all.