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No point buying in a queen unless you are 100% sure it is queen less . Have you someone who can help you go through as methodically as possible , who is experienced , and put your mind at rest that you do or dont have a queen . The problem now is , its possibly going to be another few weeks...

Bit of an oops moment , driving round at work and saw a good prime swarm hanging from an Oak tree . Its now in a Commercial on foundation and has a few hundred bees fanning manically above the entrance . Still b***&y annoying though . First decent day in ages to go through , which was this pm's...

Le Chemeau are great but silly money . Muck Boots are good value and comfy as are Buckler wellies , they call them Buck Boots , wonder where that idea came from ? I am trying the Buck Boots at present and they are good . G

Not one myself but help one out . He spoke to a full timer last week and is supplying honey , ' hand to mouth ' as it were . All last years buffer stock has gone and he is taking what honey his hives have and selling that on a week by week basis . Could be a grim year unless the Heather is very...

Heather the good news is the hosepipe ban has been lifted !! G

Pm on its way . G

If eggs are in the base of the cell they are from a queen . A laying workers abdomen is not long enough to reach . 2 eggs in a cell happens sometimes with a newly laying queen . Its all new to her and the workers normally sort it out . Have another look in a week or two . G

Yesterday went through everything at work . All ok but one determined to swarm . Left them to it with one cell . Was going to do the rest today as the forecast was good for here with the rain 60 miles North of us . So far since 7am 7.2mm of wet stuff that i think is rain !! Useless , the lot...

Ownership of bees and honey is easy . They are in my hives with the permission of the land owner , therefore my bees . They cease to be my bees if they swarm . Publicity is no bad thing in these cicumstances , let people know there are dirtbags out there . G

Alyson can I ask if you have seen a noticeable reduction in bee numbers ? If not you may have either damaged/killed her during an inspection(it happens) or she was struggling and being superceded . Though lots of q cells suggests not . G

Is there a reason that none of the manufacturers make an extractor with the tap in the bottom with an incline to it ?

RAB you are quite correct the rape was early , but it hung on for longer than normal , ie Late .

I think VM has it about right , everything running late . We get most swarm calls in late April/early May then again at the start of July for a couple of weeks . This yr , who knows .

I have worked oudoors for my entire working life . I would say the weather is doing what it normally does with regard to 10 yr patterns . You seem to get a run of warm or even hot Summers and mild Winters followed by what we have had for the last 3 yrs or so . Cold Winters with snow laying for...

No beekeeping here , more rain ! Of more concern is the text messgae I have just had from a local assoc member who tells me we have an EFB outbreak close to one of my apiaries . A phone call to the local sbi has been made . Although i like to think i would spot it anyway .........

We have nicknames for each site , Shabby Copse being my favourite , then each hive(6 in each apiary) is colour coded with a drawing pin . My own hives i just number 1 to 30 and re use when a colony fails . Always make notes as you finish each apiary or each hive if there is a lot going on ...

MandF could you swap round your hive with the nuc you are trying to build up to get a better balance between the two . The flying bees would bolster the nuc more than those from the nuc into the main hive.(That almost makes sense but I am sure you know what I mean ). Strong flow starting here...

Possibly . Either that or someone has sold a nuc with a qcell from an about to swarm hive and kept the queen for themselves . But I am a cynic . Not all nucs are as good as the one you have .;) To me it seems an odd place for a queen cell right on the bottom bars unless it came from a double...

If photo no 1 was taken on day 7 and there are sealed queen cells it suggests that the nuc was supplied queenless . If i have misread then accept my apologies , did you have the queen pointed out to you when supplied or was it picked up and left for you to hive it . Something just does'nt add...

The gamekeeper on the estate we have a good number of hives on decided that the under keeper had been stung enough by bees in one of the apiary sites . So last night approaching dark we foamed up all 7 hives and moved them 10 miles away . Not easy to do when 2 were x2 broods and 4 or 5 supers...