Search results

Thanks JBM, I was certain it was swarm cell, crawled through top and bottom twice. Even when I was 100% sure there was only 1, I still doubted it (hence the going back in today to reassess) took a a second pair of eyes with me. So definitely was supercedure. Question stands though... After a...

That's why I always mark them, I like to be sure. But I understand your point supercedure could be more common, my point was I think it unlikely in the middle of swarm season. But what do you think PH, will they try again or just go to swarm mode?

I don't inspect every four weeks, but if I knew they were superceding again I could leave them for four weeks to avoid further accident. Supercedure isn't that common... Especially in the middle of swarm season.

I could go back in in 3-4 days and see if they are raising one or more. Good answer!

Below.

Saturday's inspection revealed a single queen cell in my double brood colony, the resident queen (still there) is at least 3 years old. All the text book signs of supercedure, BUT, it's June so no way are they superseding, it must be the early signs of swarming... Right? I calculated that the...

But them liking the 'I have done this for 20 years it's ok' is an endorsement.

Agreed, I was even more disappointed to see the BBKA endorsing open feeding on Twitter the other day!

Please say it ain't so...

BBKA advice on Twitter to the general public: "No confirmation yet of Asian Hornets in UK - all suspected must be swatted - " Can you believe this? General public can barely tell the difference between a wasp and a bee... If this upsets you as much as it does me, complaints via Twitter to...

I don't think it has to be so binary. I like wasps spring and Summer, when they are demolishing the garden pests for me. But come Autumn once they have reared their queens and are no longer feeding brood... Then they are the enemy! So a love hate thing.

I like the idea of collecting pollen themselves... They do have the facilities for some microscopy. That'll be another project though :)

This is a primary school, but don't under estimate these kids, they are very inquisitive and do a lot more than this. They keep chickens, run an allotment, run a 'veg box' company, run a radio station... The list goes on!

We want to make use of the school apiary, and tie in some specific learning objectives around observation/research/reporting.

I am quite surprised just how rewarding I am finding it, and just how interested the children are. They ask much better questions than adults ;)

Not a possibility for this project. But we should be able to get at least some if not all of it identified by cross referencing the flowering period, date and colour chart. That's good researching skills to develop.

I will get in touch and see, the only issue is it needs to be good quality to make sure the children have half a chance of identifying the right plant!

Yep, this would do... But also not available anymore...

I need help. I plan to kick off a school project this year at their apiary. The plan is for them to observe the pollen loads each morning, and identify the forage. They will then use this info as well as other info (beeline and Google Earth etc) to physically track down the plants being...

This +1.