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My largest colony swarmed 2 days ago - managed to get them out of the plum tree and into a spare hive - now making up some 1 to 1 and fingers crossed they will stay put!

informative, supportive, reassuring

My front garden , approx 30 x 40 ft was in its former life a farmyard - so there is approximately a spades depth of clay over concrete (it must have holes in it otherwise it would not drain as well as it does). It faces due south and is sheltered by stone walls and the L shaped converted barn...

in my case - none

Just inspected my 4 colonies and it is rather depressing (A Hyde Hives long hive and 2 WBC's) The two colonies that share the long hive have pollen stores and some stored nectar but that is about all - the brood frames are stripped of surrounding stores and really no honey at all. One of the...

Just read through older discussions - apparently the pollen from this plant is yellow so not what my bees are bringing in - I'll go back to thinking it's Balsam - even though none of them seem to show the classic cream body dusting.

Thats Great Hoary Willowherb - Epilobium hirsutum - there is loads near me lining the rhynes - i was wondering if that was where all the light coloured pollen the bees are bringing in was coming from.

As the saying goes ....'Always expect the unexpected!' - Set up my empty WBC as a bait hive, there seemed to be some interest ..... but not a lot. On Monday last I was checking the chickens when loud buzzing and lots of bees in the air near my hives attracted me over - to find a swarm sitting...

Today I combined the two colonies using the newspaper method (my mentor came to assist). She confirmed that Hive A was failing, low number of bees, very few eggs/larvae but luckily no sign of disease, however we could not locate the queen so we closed up and took a first look into Hive B at the...

Just want to thank everyone for the advice - I'm hopefully going to have another look this afternoon (weather permitting) - and then have another ponder!

Hi, I need some advice. Just going into my second year of beekeeping - so a novice. I have a Hyde Hives double long hive with two colonies. Hive A is my original colony, Hive B is the result of a pre-emptive split in June last year. Going into winter Hive A was flourishing, lots of stores and...

Thank you - had a great day. Just wanted to add how much I appreciate the knowledge and advice available on this forum. This is my first winter with two colonies, the day before yesterday I found something had had a bit of a go at entering through the roof (phenolic ply - quite tough?) - the...

Reading Wally Sure as suggested - really clear and informative - Thank you. Mad question here! Could you not reverse the artificial swarm process by removing all the frames (bar the queen plus stores and brood - ie those you would normally put in a nuc box ) and move the original colony to the...

Thank you for the advice - I have printed out the Wally Shaw information and will have a good read through this morning. Sunday will be my first lone inspection and it will be interesting to see what the bees have been doing! We added 2 frames of foundation each side of the brood nest last...

First colony installed into my Hyde Hives Long hive last Sunday other end of hive not in use. I am now wondering and worrying about how to manage and prevent swarming which I know will happen once the colony has increased in size - reading everything I can but realise how much practical...

I am a new beekeeper who completed a practical course 2 years ago just before Covid entered our lives. With my ambitions delayed I redid the course this year and now attending practical session at my local association and have set up a small apiary (A Hyde Hives Long hive - two hives - one in...