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The simple way to avoid wild comb below the deep frames is simply to fill that space. End of problem. As the frames are only deeps, they may be well devoid of stores by the time they are transferred, so the OP simply needs to think for himself whether to remove or retain the shallow box and...

It may have been said, but it is simply not true. The queen is controlled by the workers. It depends on the weather, not the date or the day length. One colony I inspected on Feb 20th one year (when daytime temperatures had been over 20 degrees every day for a week) had no brood. Three...

Perhaps it is time for you to provide some good solid advice, instead of your seemingly usual carp and sniping from the sidelines? A softly, softly approach clearly does not work for a lot of beeks. Other new beeks read a lot of useless posts that do not make it totally clear as to the...

Don’t assume. Read the advert . It effectively says the damage is superficial only.

Depends on the weather, not the date - even to the month. One year I inspected around the 20th of February. Bees were flying in large numbers every day from at least the 14th. The weather had been up above 20 Celsius every day for the previous week. There was no brood in the particular hive...

You have both wasted your time and not helped the colony. When will new beeks get the message and stop interfering with colonies at this time of the year? No brood mean nothing. Yes, NOTHING. At this stage of the year it is quite possible that the queen is not yet laying. Further there is no...

ANYTHING BUT ASBESTOS! Do not follow this poster’s suggestion! The poster should know there are people out there that will blindly follow whatever they read.

And then what? It is quite possible, from the lack of information that has been provided, that one hive might have flying bees while the other is in a colder place and quietly clustered. Leave them alone, in peace, for as long as possible. Everyone needs more information before starting...

Just as a word of caution - bees and horses do not always get on well together. Usually the horses are the losers.

Do think about it just a little bit! The frames might well be 20 years old (some mine may be getting that way), the comb spine of those frames may be original - but the cell walls will have been, replaced as and when necessary, during that time. The beekeeper could harvest their honey by...

Don’t try to misquote me. I did not say anything about bees absconding because the comb was ‘old’. Bees are clearly more clever than most humans (particularly bibba?). Repair and replacement is far better than discarding otherwise perfectly operational items (including their home). Bees do...

Rubbish. There are some on here that do not treat. Varroa is a parasite. Parasites do not aim to kill their host - it’s pure stupidity on their behalf! The comment re swarms with almot no varroa. Rubbish again. Varroa numbers increase exponentially, d-oubling about every “brood’ month. I...

Accepted by many, but not necessarily true.

Timing of cross-over point will always be dependent on the season/weather - not the calendar date! Averages are great but reality is what matters! In a strong, well provisioned, healthy colony in a sensibly insulated hive, nearly all the bees should go through the winter - until brooding...

There seem to be some misunderstandings - possibly a 2nd language prblem? Or maybe just Quite correct. But the Q/E should not be left in too much longer or there may be drones emerging above the Q/E. One good reason why it is carried out fairly early in the season (but clearly not yet!)...

You need to get hold of, and read through, something like a Thorne’s Catalogue! There are doubtless lots of things you will not have heard of! BTW, lots are not necessary for keeping bees!

‘Detritus”? “Inferred”? “Infection”? This person obviously(?) belongs to the bb_a! Drivel and rubbish. Bees clean out the cells before every brood cycle. Bees sre very good at keeping yheir household clean and sterile. What exactly do you think bees do in feral colonies (ignoring that...

used Abelo OA strips in all my hives last autumn A good case of ‘putting all your eggs in one basket’, IMO.

Finnyland is not quite the same as UK. I used to feed dilute syrup early/mid February to some colonies try to to get them ready for the OSR, which may start flowering in late March (dependent on the weather, of course). If the OSR was early flowering, later developing nests would not have...

Store everything in ‘flat-pack’ form until needed outside? Not much space needed for ‘kit’ for those with a couple of hives. A storage cupboard outside should be adequate leaving extractor and honey storage the main extras needing somewhere to store. If, as the OP, one has (possibly more...