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Had a successful day selling honey and observing bees (wasps, as lots of people thought they were!) in the observation hive. Amazing to see the queen constantly surrounded by a little gang of admirters! Thanks very much to Bad Boy Bee for the extensive list...although I did do it on my own, as...

I think all bee keepers should have a bee keeping assistant! The kids used to help, running to fetch things I'd forgotton or didn't know I needed. So many jobs in beekeeping would be much easier in pairs. How do you take photographs when you gloves are all sticky, and how do you hold a frame and...

I was planning to have a go at mead last winter, but never got around to it. Perhaps I shall have to get on with it. I tasted a little and it was perhaps a little bitter, but I don't really like honey very much....never had tried it until my first extraction! I prefer it fresh as it comes out of...

Oh dear, I'll have to see next week if queens are still there. I thought as long as they had started laying well, it would be OK to mark. There is capped brood, but I doubt many of her own baby bees have hatched yet.

How would the nail varnish paint be any easier than a pen? You still need to keep her still. I don't think the dogs and cats would like the COT pushed into them!

Thanks, I just get in a panic when all the workers crowd on top in case they suffocate the queen. I do mean to start practising with drones...why do you have to kill them afterwards? I'm not very good at killing things and I don't think I'd be confused between drones and queens! I'll have to try...

I extracted some OSR honey a couple of years ago, before I had a refractometer, and bottled it. I did test it a few days later, and it was too wet. It hasn't exploded yet, but is solid in the bottom of the jar, with about 1/2 cm of runny on top.It does smell a bit funny. Is it OK to use for...

Am really pleased to find 3 new queens laying today, and made an attempt at marking. I use a 'crown of thorns', but find when I pop it over the queen, other bees all rush on top and make it hard to see her. I think it might be that I perhaps catch other bees with the sharp bits, and then...

OK. Is it a legal requirement to do a risk assessment....certainly putting me off now. To whom do I do that for and what do I write. helpful ideas, thanks.

I am being patient....just wondering if a test frame is any use when there is a queen present, who may be of use. Thanks for your replies and help, all. Melon.bee-smillie

Thanks for all your help and advice. You suggest that I don't attempt this without experienced help.....that's just what I was going to do, as nobody else is available.....can things go terribly wrong? Our association has brought an obs hive, but only one chap has used it so far, to take to a...

I understand that she will evebtually lay drone brood. But would the workers not realise that this queen isn't going to be any good and hence make queen cells from frame of rggs, or arn't they that clever?

I am intending to use an Observation Hive for the first time at a fete. Has any one got any handy hints and tips. Is it OK to just pop the frame back in the hive, or will there be any fighting if they've been away for a few hours? Also, if I can't find a queen, is it still OK to take a frame of...

Little question to those who know..... If a virgin queen has failed to mate and is too late, would the bees recognise that she won't be any use and rear emergency queen cell from a frame of eggs....or would they not, knowing they already have a queen and hoping she'll lay one day? I am in the...

Hi, No I've never done requeening....as they are very good bees really. I did have one hive who didn't swarm last year, and had supers stacked higher than I could reach. They have 1 or 2 queen cells this year, and are full to bursting. I think that they might be superceduring.(well I couldn't...

I think my bees must be swarmy bees, as even when given double brood, they still get swarmy....I think it even encourages them, as they have far more space to lay, and hence the populations increase more rapidly. Any hints and tips on how to reduce numbers of hives! I suppose I could sell some...

I don't. Not yet confident enough to handle queens. I think commercial bee keepers do.

Seeing as my swarms have drawn out virtually a whole brood box in about 7=10 days, and filled it, and have been building brace comb into the roof and there are loads of bees despite AS in other hives.....do you ever get a second swarming season when bee numbers build up so quickly. What I am...

If you scrap away the cappings and don't see the wax moth, tap on the side of the frame with your hive tool a few times, and the caterpillar will probably peep out at you. Catch it and squish it or feed it to your chickens if you have any.