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The bees in winter are very different to how you see them in summer. They form a tight cluster just like when they are in a tree after swarming but probably fewer in number than a full sized swarm. This means that there is no real split between the top BB and the bottom one (assuming you have...

I had a colony on double BB last year. Went through the winter well. I did the standard OA dosage (they are clustered when you do the treatment so the dose gets administered as it should). Stayed on double BB all through this year, which was harder than a single but they are a very strong...

If you look at the order of events there may be a section at the end stating "Removal of Exhibits" so that is when you get your honey back. Good luck.

Scewfix and B&Q are owned by the same holding company. Screwfix are however are significanly cheaper then B&Q for screws etc.

Toby Just out of interest was this a new colony this year or did you have them last year and treated them over the autumn/winter 2010?

Just treated two of my hives at the moment and will do the others at weekend when I have made some ekes. Mite drop on the two hives low, but early days though. I do wonder if the bees are adapting to resist the mite, maybe culling thier own drones or grooming themselves better to remove the...

I had a colony that I united with another at the end of last season so by chance they became a double BB colony. I have to say that a season on I have found it to be very hard to manage. It is hard work to find the queen when I needed to do an AS, when the frames were not balance up they built...

I highlighted the link and pressed Ctrl C then copied it into the address line on a new browser page. Went to Cush man and removed the space and pressed return. and the page came up. It looks a great solution but he did have a gravograph to make the letters. For non-engineering bods like...

You can get a 6 frame poly nuc with OMF for under £30. It will save all the bother of making up boards with insulation. Kingspan insulation is not very cheap anyway.

I use a local timber merchants. They are so precise with cutting; you are dealing with a person who cuts timber every day. They also seem to have more off cuts available so you can get some good prices on the smaller pieces you want. For timber I would not go near B&Q or Homebase.

I am trying green mauure this year for any empty beds. Caliente Mustard is what I have chosen as it is good for teh soil and when it flowers honey bees are suypposed to love it.

As Varroa has only been in the UK for 18 -20 years is it right to assume that the situation with bees is static? My understanding is that there are colonies of bees that are changing and becoming more hygienic. This change is reducing the number of varroa in a colony and so making it more...

I put veg oil on boards and they wipe clean. Only in for mite monitoring. Left out all last winter as I was taught that bees survive cold conditions very well, but it is the damp that gets them. By leaving the board in the lack of ventilation causes damp and therefore problems.

I had to look the word up. Infamy, infamy, they all have it infamy!

I use 18mm ply for both BB and supers and 2x12mm ply for the rails. All edged painted with PVA glue. I get the sheets from local timber merchant cut to size free (460mm and 424mm wide). Some of 12mm pieces can be got from offcuts so a lot cheaper. Also if you do get cedar watch the dust as I...

My big hive in the garden went a bit manic today for about half and hour. It has been a miserable wet day and this evening there was a break and some warmth so out the came in force. In respect of courses I did my basic last year over 2 days, howver we were also required to attend the club...

Fantastic Gingerbees, A lot of hard work, but I bet you are proud.

Organic for me too. Good compost and chicken manure pellets. We have enough beds to rotate the crops.

I tried growing parnips this year in two different ways; Seads soaked in water for a few days and dry seeds direct into the soil. Not one germinated and I love parsnips.

Luminos, for the garlic did you buy the garlic bulbs that are designed to be planted or did you use a grocery bought bulb?