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i believe the reference is to the mayflower of the hawthorn and not the month

very true :welcome:

i think its a little early to be making assumptions and writing the colony off,and thinking of worst, i would give them a week then inspect again , if still no signs of the queen why not give them a frame with some fresh eggs from another colony if you can ,give them the opportunity to raise...

i did my first inspection of this hive yesterday i suspect it has been neglected for a few years and this was the first time i looked in to it since acquiring it in October i was surprised to find all frames crammed with stored and very little brood if any at all, there were quite a few drones...

another update, i removed the inspection board last week 28/3/18 and did a mite count, none could be found, lots of activity and signs of stores being consumed, im pleased with the result so far , as i dont think this hive has been inspected for several years and the initial daily mite drop...

i find that honey from osr or beans left in the comb can seed the crystallization of the next honey stored, osr is very difficult to extract completely

are you in an oil seed **** area?, just looks like crystallized honey comb

made up a couple of snelgrove boards from spare bits i had laying about

Only just read your reply - did you go to the auction? I use to help organise it many years ago when I was on the Lbk committee always a good day out very friendly and as a newbie a good experience

we had 3" snow overnight (18/03/2018) and in the morning i was able to record the ambient temperatures as well as the internal hive temps i was surprised how low it had recorded 7 deg c at the time of recording ambient temp = 5 deg c hive internal temp = 8 deg c i had to remove the...

im just thinking back to when i did my very first inspection and no one had told me that bees can crawl up into your clothing, be it a trouser leg or bee smock,i received 6 stings on my leg i learnt very quickly, the colony was very strong and over crowded and as i lifted the first frame...

sounds like you have got a couple of plans in mind and any what you mention would work , for the first spring inspection i would have some frames with foundation ready made up, and quickly go through each frame and assess the situation,i usually transfer them into a fresh clean brood box, and...

if you have open mesh floors then carry on, if solid floors use mesh to seal them up not rags you need to let them have ventilation and water, if you can confine them for 3 days even better

totally agree 2 x brood is very flexible, brood = half is a muddle but it may suite some, i guess it depends if you have the spare equipment needed

bees will crawl into dark spaces , ie up a trouser leg and when they are all over the ground whilst you are doing your inspection you wont notice them crawling up your leg until it is too late , so tuck them down into your wellies

welcome to the forum one thing to remember , if you ask 10 beekeepers a question you could possibly get 10 different answers, which as can get quite confusing, just as well the bees are quite forgiving best advise i could give you for your first inspection dont forget to wear wellingtons...

this sounds like curiosity got the better you, i think we have all been there , just make sure they have stores,remove the crown board and place a block of candy/fondant on the top bars as insurance and cover with a quilt or blanket, if it is a small colony they will need the extra insulation...

as i first mentioned im not sure if this data will be of any use, but i do find doing practical experiments fascinating,far better to do it for real than reading about it , it is early days and i can see that monitoring the outside temp to compare with the inside temp would be helpful , and as...

the data logger

This may be of interest, as for the practical use im not sure but welcome comments. I have been monitoring the internal hive temperature /humidity using a small data logger, I have placed the device in the hive inside a sock, it was placed on the top bars which are covered with insulating...