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The problem with low lying Heather seems to be the soil rather than the plant . Every time I have tried hives on a local heath they have come back lighter rather than heavier . If the soil is dry there is a restricted nectar flow and the bees ignore it . Well I say local, 30 odd miles away . Not...

I will refer back to my notes when I get home but I had a colony that I split in late May , the 25th I think . It had a sealed cell and was on 14 x 12 frames . I knew it was queen right by its general demeanour and thought it only a matter of time before she started to lay . It was only last...

The only daft question is the one you dont ask . And as icanhopit says , if you can donate , please do . There is always a need and it might be you that needs it !

The colony is probably huge at present and by taking the supers away they are going to be short of space . Put a super back on so they have something to do and room to spare .Or double brood perhaps if you are determined to treat now . I think Varroa treatment can wait for a week or two yet . It...

Lets hope that puts that one to bed !!! G

Even with top bee space you could run a thin strip to stabilise the board . There may be a little brace comb built but to be honest I get this even where I know its spot on for bee space . If you wanted to , and with little extra work why not have deep enough timber on the other side so you can...

A queen cup is not "an active queen cell in any stage of developement" its just an oddly shaped cell on the bottom of a frame. Perhaps we should adopt PH's description of play cup rather than queen play cup ? Even a play cup with an egg in it is not active , its just an egg in a cell . It...

Fencing not technically legal . You must not put an obstruction in the way of badgers if you are aware they are using that route . Even if you do they will dig round , under or climb over it . There's only one way to stop it completely and it aint legal . G

Hi Chris . Have a look at the first entry on this thread . It says , Wildflower meadow for 'bees' not honey bees . There is a mention of honey bees later on , this , after being told it wasnt attractive to honey bees the op said there were indeed honey bees on it . I assume they were not going...

Agree with all of the above . Cups are just that until they have an egg and royal jelly is being added . Workers remove them if laid in error . They can and will take a larvae and use that which reduces the time taken to seal a qc but I normally find this only happens after I have had a couple...

R and J . There are , in life , what my old boss used to call energy sappers . No matter what you do , its not big enough , bright enough , effective enough , you get the idea . Keep doing what you are doing , there are countless numbers of bugs and beast who will thive not only from it but in...

Warming delays it , so once in the jar as liquid it will remain this way for some weeks, temp dependant . Most honeys will granulate again in the jar but hopefully by then you have sold it/used it . If you want to have 'set' honey , extract , filter and jar it up . G

Roundup is sprayed over a number of crops , including cereals to dessicate it before harvesting . I doubt if this would have been the cause unless it was an allergic reaction . Its probably one of the most used chems out there . G

Found some of the dried out wood spoken about early in the thread . In the hollow of an Oak . Burns gently for hours . Before that I tried the compressed cotton waste from 'forns' . Its a beggar to get going but will get me through 40 hives without having to relight or mess about with it . Bee...

Hemlock is very similar but the stems usually have a bright mauve/purple staining on them . G

Yesterday , as I am still waiting a visit from the rbi due to being in the middle of an efb outbreak , I decided to have a good look at all 4 hives in the apiary affected . All , as far as I can see , were clean apart from the odd cell with sacbrood . I will still have to wait for him to look...

I have several hives that are 1 frame narrower than a National , they sit on a Nat floor but only the warm way , 90deg to the entrance . I change floors each Spring and sometimes they get a floor designed for the box and sometimes not .( I now buy floors and cut them down to suit) . If the...

Oh go on then 7 or 8 frames ;)

A couple of hundred miles North of me but fwiw I would put a super over a qe if its foundation , or two supers if you have drawn frames in supers . I assume foundation as your are just starting out . Still piling stuff into supers here so would expect you to have a chance at a bit of honey , the...

Wasp or Hornet ? Never seen a wasp take a bee but Hornets cetainly will .