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Snelgrove II dilemma - thoughts on a postcard, please. So, I have a 'green queen' (into her 3rd season), who has been continuing to lay well, with the colony becoming very strong. All things being equal, I might either expect supersedure later in the season, and, failing that would have planned...

Fair comment... However, if, for arguments sake, you had(/have) an apiary of let's say 10 colonies; all overwintered well, ostensibly disease free, with low varroa loads, and all with good brood/stores, and expanding rapidly, and then, after an admittedly wintry 2-week snap, say 6 our of the 10...

... This... although very colony (not location) specific. I have seen rapid colony regression and some near starvation situations arising in colonies which were booming only a couple of weeks ago. For me, it seems to have primarily affected colonies of Buckfast-esqe lineage. The local mongrels...

True ... usually :) Lateral thinking not my strong point ! Lol

I had an experienced Beekeeper tell me recently that the back of a hot spoon did the trick... Especially if applied soon after the sting ... Something to do with the breakdown of the proteins in the venom. *Assuming* this to be true, I have to say that I never have a hot spoon, cup of tea, hot...

I asked for (and received) this book for Christmas. I like to think of myself as being pretty open-minded, and I wanted to test the waters with this, having recently finished David Heaf's excellent "The Bee Friendly Beekeeper". To be honest, I struggled. Firstly I found myself blowing very hot...

I presume rails are left in situ, and castellations can be slotted in at-will... Is the idea

Ahhhh, sorry Woodland Bees - crossed posts. Would seem to be a Thornes thing then. Strange, I have had T's boxes before, but obviously not the spec which includes that feature. Thanks for clearing it up. Anyhow, pliers are coming out :-)

Thanks. I presume they are just slotted in (Finnan, I'm not that stupid), but I was just wondering... before I use brute force. I too (JBM) initially thought they must be slotted between the board and the rail, but on closer inspection, they seem to be embedded in the board itself... which made...

Quick question on super castellations. On my own supers, I simply pin the castellations to the inside of the box. Given the pre-drilled holes, and the ease with which I can pull these off and e.g. replace with runners, I would think this is what most people do (?). Maybe I'm mistaken. Over the...

Duplicate post. Sorry

Personally - and to reiterate what I said previously about excessive intervention - I would not open them up, as I don't think the disruption to what is evidently a small/weak colony will do anything other than harm them. It's too cold, and they're probably too depleted. Try and be...

On one level, it sounds like you may have just been dreadfully unlucky... Nosema, queen failure etc... happen to the best of them - so I would echo what others have said. Give it another crack. Beekeeping can be ... no, IS... a wonderful pastime. Futhermore, you'll have made most of the capital...

Thought as much; it just seems that all my hives (across two sites) are gaining. Not that I'm complaining too much - wherever it's coming from. Assuming large scale robbing, then I hope that's not going to cause me a disease issue. Anyhow, time will tell. Cheers.

A couple of weeks ago (start of March) I went to heft (and inspect fondant levels on) colonies in my main out-apiary. At the time, I was being vigilant only as the bees were becoming more active, beginning brood rearing (evidenced by copious pollen gathering) and also as I only had a couple of...

I'm sorry, but I find that kind of comment ignorant. Ventilation is absolutely vital, both as an exhaust for the CO2 in the hive, and as a means of regulating condensation. Note I say "regulate", as, whilst at a certain level it is surely benign (and, in some regards possibly even beneficial -...

I can vouch for Caddon. I have had 7 hives from them over the last few years, and the quality of both the timber and the machining are absolutely first rate. Like, really good. I am under no illusions about the fact that the reason they are so cost effective is that they are shipped from the...

I think it is widely used in Germany... most of the beekeeping suppliers there sell it (e.g. Reiner Bienentabak, ca. 600 g Beutel, grob für Smoker - Shop-Bienenweber) .... I have been curious to understand if this is some anachronism, or whether there is a sound reason (which it sounds like...

JBM - I am new to the topic of African bees (have been reading some materials, and aspire to go out to Africa in the (hopefully) not too distant future... watch this space), so defer to your knowledge and experience here, but my general understanding is that Apis melifera Adansonii is the...

Just catching up with this most entertaining thread... ROTFL. Good luck with that, and the related books ... You should be inspecting weekly in the peak swarm season, and if you don't, the bees will soon educate you otherwise. You learn from handling bees. IMHO, (and in the absence of...