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Can anyone recommend a good small extractor to buy? I don’t have huge amounts to extract (maybe 6-8 frames).

Usually when I lift off the roof, the damage is already done.

Ah yes, that makes sense. I feel bad wrecking it’s nest when I take off the roof, but I have to get to my bees.

Every time I inspect one hive, I find a cluster of leaves under the roof. Couldn’t figure out what was doing it. Assumed it was something building some sort of nest. Then I spotted this inside the cluster of leaves... Can anyone identify?

Up to 40 degrees forecast for the next few days. For southern England anyway. Over here, not just as warm. Is there anything we can do to help our colonies in the high temperatures?

I thought it wasn’t advisable to split the Brood nest?

I have noticed previously if a Queen has been removed (and a sealed Q cell is only in the hive), those cells that previously contained Brood, the workers then start filling up with stores (as there are no new Brood going in them). Now that a new Queen has (seemingly) emerged, I noticed on a few...

UPDATE Did a quick check today, and no Queen. No fresh eggs either. Freshest looks to be about 4 days old. It looks now that those numbers on front of the hive might actually have been a swarm (Saturday) Queen was clipped, so she probably nose-dived into the ground from the hive entrance...

Chinooks, now there’s a sight and sound I don’t miss around these parts!

Was about 2pm, warmish. I left them alone for a half hour or so, and they all seemed to go back inside. So I’m thinking it may have been the vibrations

I was doing a bit of hammering in the apiary, a couple of metres from the hives. I turned around and the front of the hives were covered in bees. Never seen as many before. I thought at first they were swarming. Even though they weren’t trying to attack me, I’m assuming they were out because...

Yeah, that’s the direction I was leaning towards.

I’m just curious to know this, just to keep my hive records correctly. So... I have a hive. Let’s call it Hive A. I found some Queen cells in Hive A, so I carried out an Artificial Swarm. I placed Hive A to the left of its original site, left a Queen cell in the Brood box. Then I found the...

I learnt it’s better to wait a couple of days before feeding a swarm. But now that I think about it... I forget why that is :rolleyes:

Any climbing plants you’d recommend? Preferably plants that are fast growers and provide good cover?

So, given the information around colony size increasing and decreasing according to the time of year.... Is it better for a colony if the Brood nest grows wide across the Brood box? Or narrower and upwards into another Brood box/super?

I see. Some good thoughts there. One Queen is doing really well, and just want to be prepared. I originally thought I’d use a QE, and add a super. But, in time, I think she’ll fill out the Brood box, and have nowhere to go if there’s a QE between the B.B. and super.

So, let’s say you have a colony in a single Brood box. The colony is building well, and you need to give them more space. What would be the thinking in whether to add another Brood box or whether to add a super?

I use that low sodium one. Got to think of the slugs health, so you do.

I had a dozen or more slugs in a poly nuc yesterday, but none in the hive (cedar). Do they prefer poly to wood? I’m assuming they do, as the nuc has a smaller entrance than the hive. It would probably be easier to gain entry to the hive than the nuc. PS. Didn’t want to use pellets, so put...