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Thanks Hombre. Point taken. Thank you for your candor.

Enrico! This is very interesting! So you are saying to scrape off the reverse side of the frame under the eggs? You were clear in your post but I'm just double checking. Does this only apply to queenless colonies or would this work if there were already a queen? I don't think I have ever read...

We are indeed in the same boat Pete. I was all up for getting a nuc and combining the colonies to save the bees I had with the idea of them splitting them later in the season when they were ready for it and showing signs of wanting to. I was talked into transferring a frame of eggs in and then...

Thanks Doc. Yes I found this out yesterday when I brought the frame back. I was overly concerned and had a blanket and hot water bottle at the ready in the car to keep them warm. It was explained to me by a very amused beekeeper that my efforts weren't necessary so I brought them back on the...

Richard, Nosema was a guess based upon comparing the mess inside the hive with pictures in a book. I 'confirmed' it by mashing some dead bees and comparing a slide of the resulting liquid under a microscope with other pictures in other books. While I'm not trained in any form of science field...

Well, I expected flack and I got it. Fair enough. In post 12 I tried to sum up what had been suggested and asked a question. But from that point on I got no answers. Perhaps the term mentor is a little strong and I should have found a more appropriate word. The guy I paid to supply me with a...

Well, I suppose I didn't really get an answer! a very nice chap in Oxon offered to sell me bees to allow me to combine a new hive with my stricken hive. Meanwhile I went to see the very kindly John Hamer over at Blackhorse apriary who made a frame of eggs available to me. I have installed the...

Definitely a colony, not leaving with anything and loads of stores still on. Hadn't thought about getting a queen mated at this time of year but rather getting a mated queen (by combining hives).

Nuc OK, so if I had time I could order a queen from NZ, i could combine the hive with another healthy hive or, my personal favorite right now, i could introduce a frame of brood/eggs from another hive so that my own bees could raise an emergency queen. What about getting an overwintered nuc...

Nosema isn't really the issue Sorry guys, the nosema is not an issue here. I mentioned it only to say that I had two hives but nosema wiped out one of them. The remaining hive has no issue at all with nosema, its just queenless. I'm not moving that colony into the old hive or anything. I...

No second hive Excellent idea Taff but I lost one hive in December to Nosema. I now have an empty hive, complete with honey and lots of comb, ready for the next split but no another hive of bees. I ought to amend my profile.

As a new boy I listened carefully on the course to the benefits of requeening in the autumn or the spring. All interesting stuff then. Now however its a bit more urgent! I just inspected my hive for the first time this season only to find no eggs, larvae or queen! I have considered the fact...

Well, what can I say? At £17.75kg it seems expensive but not impossible if it really helps the girls out. At £30kg it seems mad! I've got a jar in the cupboard, like I said. I'll get my mate to irradiate it for me and see if my bees like it. The trouble is that he irradiates stuff as a...

OK, so £443.75 per 25kg = £17.75kg Down in Swindon they will irradiate a tote (large plastic tray) for £25 with a minimum charge of £145. So put the 25kg through and the combined cost comes to... £443.75 + £145 = £17.75kg = £23.55 If you ad £5 a kilo and £1 for packaging for taking to Swindon...

Tell Me more I've not put pollen on for bees in the past but as I'm a new boy that's no surprise. I have some pollen from a trip to the South of France last year. Its sitting in a very pretty jar in the larder. So why should I give it to my bees? I'm assuming its to 'get them going' early...

OK, All done. My kit was zapped with 32kGy over hte weekend and is now awaiting reuse with a new load of bees in the spring. There was a bit of an issue with the size of a National brood box. It was a bit big for the machine so special arrangements were made. I am told that the only guys with...

Well, the very nice chap with the gamma source has agreed to zap my kit for me so thats a very good deal indeed. i'm not sure about pollen working with this because he has a lower exposure limit of of 25kGy. Thats the recommended dose for killing AFB. I will be talking to him in a day or two...

Thanks mbc, I did see that guide and you're correct, they do recommend acetic acid. I happened to speak to someone this afternoon though who has a Cobalt 60 Source! From my NDT days I remember c60 to be a great source of gamma radiation. Befor going down the acid route I'm going to go and see...

nosema bees Thanks Hombre, We had a suspicion that the queen was in trouble but repeated inspections in the autumn showed helthy brood and a strong laying pattern so we kept reassuring ourselves that all was right with the world. Maybe half a dozen heads deep in comb. No tonges out, I...

It was a good Christmas... Not as good as it would have been if one of my two hives hadn't kicked the bucket! My wife and are are new to beekeeping and this was our first first winter. One of our hives was a good strong sort. The other had been on the weak side and going into winter I...