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Hives arrived home. The last nice days before very unpleasant season which I don't like - grey, cold and wet November and then dull winter. The bees still can take syrup so I've given it to some hives in need. In general autumn is warmer than usual, many trees are still green. In Ukrainian...

I read the autumn forecast on AccuWeather. They predict rains and unstable weather in Italy and Balcans, wildfires in Scandinavia and "never-end summer" in Eastern Europe. Sometimes they err but at least the next 10 days summer will be with us. Now is almost 30°C. I think we don't need cold...

In 1708 Moscovia defeated Sweden and allies near Poltava after the severe arctic winter when Sweden army lost half of the soldiers. Very significant battle for the Moscovian history because there the Empire started its expansion. Many slavic chroniclers wrote about unstable and extreme...

Not a queen but a female, I guess. I met this creature yesterday. Nor rare but rather unusual guest. Very difficult to notice it among the grass. Just a few stems of grass and she is invisible.

Reduce entrances of the hives to the size of one bee, examine whether the hives have other gaps or cracks. Dead bees are probably robbers killed in the hives. It's better to feed in the evening but I often feed in daytime or in the morning. It's important that the bees are able to protect...

Prepared 5 l of the light syrup for the smallest colonies but they dont' need it. Late buckwheat has been providing a lot of honey. Now hives are full of stores and bees as it is usually in the middle of summer. Buckwheat is very popular food here and several years ago until sunflower expansion...

The role of varroa in those hives is the same as in any other hives. He didn't say anything about varroa. I think they didn't survive :)

I found an interesting video about insulation and ventilation. It's from Russia where winter weather is much colder than in Europe. You can undertand it without translation. Overinsulated hives, thick pillows,small entrances and holes sentenced 12 colonies out of 20 to death. Even in cold...

If you cover the top with plastic you need a ventilation through the bottom. I read many different opinions about this. In my opinion such sheets are good in spring.

My goal was to get 1 ton of honey this summer. Almost all my colonies were able to do that job. Instead they lost a lot of worker bees in June because farmers decided to earn as much money as possible using illegal pesticides. I estimate 40% of workers were killed with unknown chemicals and...

I guess there are 99% that in the united colony that drone laying queen will be killed. So I would have united them using a newspaper between those colonies. Your "hard" method also should help but it needs more time and work.

Two months drought is over in Western and Central Ukraine. Heavy rains and thunderstorm are here now. Yesterday the temperature fell down from 30 to 14°C. It can restrain sunflower from too early flowering. I still hope to extract some of buckwheat honey before sunflower. Before sunflower's...

Chances are high if their beekeeper will not change their plans. I'm waiting for the first swarms too.

I can just laught at your, Goran, complaint about the honey price etc. Several times I wrote the price which we have here - 1,5 dollars, not euro. In winter it was almost $2. It is falling calling hot debates among the beekeeping community, whereas everything else, especially import, is growing...

But if they get a new virgin queen they kill any other good queens introduced. It is often easy to know whether the colony queenless. Bees almost don't work flutteering with the wings. There is a specific buzz in the hive. Such behavoir lasts for several days until they get queen cells or...

Keep honey. The price is expected to grow. There is a drought here and the conditions seems not to improve. If we get less honey the European price will grow. In fact we don't have rains since snow melting in March. Today there is a little colder, 22°C. Last week there was unseasonable 30°C...

I noticed bees don't like that kind of work in front of their hives. Any movement there make them angry. Summer colonies are big and not so tolerant as in early spring. A few days ago I transported my apiary to the summer location. It is a wild territory, where they will be until October. I...

Do you give them salt? Add a tea spoon or 2 of salt or sea salt to 3 litres of water and set it in the garden. To attract bees use sugar syrup. When they know that place put there a jar with water and salted water. They will take what they need. I use this thing

There is summerlike weather here, +27 today. We are far from the Atlantic ocean which chills British island. This month was very warm and almost without rains. Colonies have been developing quickly, now they have 3 suppers (my hives consist only of 10-frame suppers 145 mm) and some want another...

I wonder either. The quality is not a matter. Antibiotic control is very severe. I have already written that sugar replacenment is not profitable even for winter food because of the low honey price. There are no reasons to buy sugar and spend much time and efforts for feeding. In winter the...