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I was I was worried about them making loads of EQCs in the bottom boxes given the distance from the queen if she was separated by 4 supers, given what I have seen in a demaree only separated by 2 or 3 supers. The last thing I wanted was to have to shake the bees off all frames to remove the...

Thought it was too many so united straight above the two existing brood boxes with QEs and newspaper top and bottom.

Next doors Ceanothus is in full bloom and attracting all types of bees. I assume this is just good for pollen though and not nectar. Bramble coming out but not much else of real consequence here until the Lime flowers. Although, given all the gardens in the area that have Lavender, they’ll have...

Checked the last hive today that was a defensive hive we requeened last week by merging the brood box the new BMH queen was in with the double brood where we had removed the queen. Was quite nervous but all good as the new queen was there and laying. Allowing her free run of the brood boxes now...

Inspected the two garden and three allotment hives yesterday. In the garden the big hive had accepted the queen back after uniting the nuc she was in back with the main hive two weeks after doing swarm control (Pete Little method). Fingers crossed it works and they don’t decide to swarm again...

I just have bees at 3 different sites in urban settings and don't have ready access to somewhere more remote. And I really don't fancy trying to move this monster, let alone through someones house to get out the front door :oops: 😁. Would have probably been easier to make them hopelessly...

Thank you for the advice. @Antipodes Condensing the bottom two brood boxes is not really feasible as there's 22 frames with about 16 frames of brood. I like the idea of having a mesh screen for a bit and then unite using newspaper. I assume this is all with the brood box with the new queen...

Bit of an old thread but this is what I am looking to do next weekend. I’ve got a very defensive double brood in a suburban setting with three supers. On top is another brood box on a solid floor with a new queen that is now laying. Reason it’s sitting on top is that it was part of a Demaree I...

Welcome to the forum and hope you enjoy the wealth of knowledge here. It’s certainly been very helpful to me since I started 5 years ago. I'm in Ealing so not too far away from you I guess.

Took the tabs off two queens from @Black Mountain Honey that we put in hives a couple of days ago. The bees were very interested in the cage but not aggressive. Put a third super on a very large but overly defensive hive that we we plan to re-queen by merging when one of new queens is up and...

A double screen board would be useful anyway and so I'll see if they have one in the club shop when I go later. If not then I'll use the solid board and keep it all on one stack which makes it easier for uniting.

I planned to use the frames from the top box to make the nuc anyway and so that would work but don't have a double screen board. Does there have to be a screen between them or would a solid board with an entrance work just as well?

Two BMH queens have just been delivered all good and well. One is for a single brood in my garden so was just going to kill existing queen, pop the cage in and take tab off after 48 hours assuming all is well. The other hive is a double brood (with another demaree box on top) we look after for...

Just checked a small single brood hive and they are running on vapour so just put a feeder on. Weather much better now so with a bit of feed they’ll hopefully become self sufficient very soon. Ordered two queens from @Black Mountain Honey. One to replace the queen in a “nightmare to inspect”...

Real mixed bag. Got a couple of very strong double brood hives with 2 supers and was pleasantly surprised to find no QCs. One single brood hive had open and closed QCs but luckily the queen was still there so nuc’d her. Combined 2 other poorly performing hives and will replace the queen if the...

Inspected the 3 hives at the allotment site over the weekend. 2 are really slow to build up so plan to unite them next weekend and then possibly buy in a new queen afterwards. The third is doing ok but was recently upgraded from a nuc to full hive. Replaced a couple of frames of foundation with...

Inspected hive no.6 today which is one that we look after for an elderly gentleman in their garden. My wife and I were shocked to find about 16 frames of brood and not much space for any more. Some queen cups and one did have an egg in it so they'll be off soon. Stuck a super on. Will...

Inspected the three allotment hives and bit of a mixed bag. First hive on a double was not doing great so knocked it down to a single. Must have superseded end of last summer as unmarked queen now. Was hoping to expand the second hive on 8 frames but didn’t need it. Third hive which was in a...

Thanks for your advice Eric. Got 3 on double brood and will check them out at the weekend and see if any action is required.

Thanks Eric. The amount of unused comb is the same in both diagrams but is it the more central position of the unused comb and the way the brood nest is split in diagram 2 that encourages the bees to make maximum use of it?