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The honey bees I was called out to collect.

Agreed. I've previously told the other estate holder that "there are a lot of bees 'in the environment'". That seemed to work.

Have been called out to remove a colony from under a static caravan. It's on the other side of the private estate my apiray is located in. So, could even be one of mine. I've not done this before. If you fancy a laugh. I'll try and take some pics and post them here for your general amusement.

BS honey bees don't make separate deep boxes for nucs. If you contact them they refer you to Maisemore.

That's worth the additional cost of invert. I have 10 kg of sugar hidden at the back of the food cupboard, where no one goes, for emergencies. Otherwise, I've learnt the benefits of invert. It's just way faster and less of a mess and more convenient for the bees

Sure, others make poly nucs, no one else makes poly deep boxes compatible with BS Honey bees and Maisemore poly nucs. If you buy 6-frame National poly nucs and need brood boxes, you have to buy from Maisemore. PS: I shall be buying some in Tomorrow's Maisemore sale.

How long do winter bees REALLY live for? Often wondered what % of the colony in the summer are actually still winter bees. What is Washboarding, really? I suspect it's bored bees. But there must be more to it. Why are Maisemore poly nuc brood boxes the most expensive piece of poly nuc equipment...

If you get anaphylaxis from bee stings but still want to beekeep. I'd suggest these "Showa 772, Chemical Resistant Gloves, Yellow, Nitrile, Cotton Liner". The palms and fingers have a rough texture, to aid grip. Cuffs reach beyond your elbows. Very unlikely bees will sting through these.

I've seen a colony try to abscond, but I had a QE under the BB. The workers remained airborne for a couple of minutes, in front of the hive, they then returned to the hive - I didn't see them cluster.

I'm going to stick my novice neck out and suggest they may be absconding, due to a lack of lay space for the queen, and some other factor(s). We're in a flow, which could be leading them to fill brood comb with nectar - inspect the brood comb. Do a lot of emerged cells have nectar in them? The...

In the past couple of weeks, I've inspected colonies in 3 different apiaries, all showed a lot of backfill of nectar into brood frames, even in hives with supers of empty drawn comb. I recon, when they're in a flow, their priority is simply to get the stuff in, ASAP. They figure out where to put...

There seems to be a competition in my garden to win the title of Tiniest colony. This microscopic cluster was in another bait hive. They've even collected some nectar - see the old comb photo. Again, I can't identify a queen.

Hot bees, last night. First hot bearding of the season.

After 3 days, they're finally all in the box. It's a micro-colony. The warm weather is in their favour. I don't want them to stay on the side of the house, so will look to move them in 2 weeks to the out apiary - that should give the queen time to finish mating - though it's only 1 km away, so a...

I put a mini rapid feeder of syrup inside the top of the nuc. Over 2 hours 40% of the bees went inside. I brushed my fingers over the remaining cluster and noticed they have started building wax on the wooden wall bracket (see the small white marks). Despite poking around I still can't see a queen.

They're not going in that box, despite a frame of drawn comb in there.

I've had a good look and didn't see one - unless it's a small virgin.. Just loads of workers. I could have another try tomorrow.

Yesterday, a large swarm landed in a bait box (bigger than the one in this picture) on the side of my house, then took off, leaving behind a cluster of workers. Any ideas as to what I can do with them? They are navigated to this spot. I'm not massively keen on trying to put them in the colony...

Sometimes you have to get your eye in. Then, you suddenly see them all. Doesn't help if you have old dark comb. So much easier to see in new comb. Make sure the sun is shining over your shoulder on to the comb.

Thanks @ericbeaumont and @jenkinsbrynmair That makes sense. My 3-frame successes have come from moving QCs into the 3-framers. Lesson learned.