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"Here where I live, in Cloggy Land, the winter cluster's size is measured not in balls but in straits (a strait being the space between two frames)." 'round these 'ere parts we call 'em seams of bees :)

Too risky to be marking a Q at this time of year. I'd leave it until there is a reasonable chance of them (or you) replacing her if something goes wrong. ie. April at the earliest.

This is part of a pdf that was forwarded to our local Association "On September 11 2014, the Italian National Reference Centre for beekeeping confirmed the first detection of the presence of Small hive beetle (SHB) in South West Italy, in the port city of Gioia Tauro. The samples were taken...

Ah well, Haynes is out of date then...

1. If you have open mesh floors, start by inserting the tray and seeing what the mite drop is like over a 24 or 48 hour period. At this time of year, if you have less that 20 mites over a 24 hour period you could maybe get away without treating (but consider Oxalic acid in January). 2. Gently...

Makes sense. Thanks E

I have a June swarm in a commercial BB. 3 weeks ago it had a half full super over a QE. I decided not to take the honey off so I removed the QE and put the super over the crownboard so they could start to draw the honey down into the BB. Seemed like a good idea, but now, 3 weeks later I have...

I use the recipe and (non-pedantic) attitude in the Haynes book [p. 128], i.e 1. put sugar in bucket, 2. measure the height of sugar 3. Add warm water to a level about an inch over the original sugar line Works OK for me in my brew bucket with 12k of sugar in each batch so I'm sticking to it :)

A lot more expensive, but I'd recommend a laser printer. Better quality printing and waterproof results.

Is there any reason why I might have ended up with brown sludge after I melted down some old frames? I normally melt them in a large pan with a couple of inches of water, sift out the cocoons and sift into a bucket so it can cool down. The wax normally sets in a cake, floating over the water...

I hope you don't have "ASIAN" Hornets in your garden because, hopefully, they haven't arrived in the UK yet. If you really do have "ASIAN" Hornets then you can expect DEFRA and probably TV crews and a shed load of people queuing to interview you and film your Hornets. They are most likely to be...

That deep yellow pollen is Ivy. It is has just come out here and is covered in bees, hoverflies and even a beautiful hornet.

There it is again.... nadir, nadir nadir

Ahh, I get it... I will be Zenithing my hives in the spring then?

Why is this word now appearing on this forum all the time? It was hardly ever used on here until recently and now it's in every other post. Showing off I recon. Nadir def. "The lowest or most unsuccessful point in a situation"

I agree. It's definitely not a bee. We have Asters completely covered in these bee-mimics at the moment. Could it be one of these on this page? http://www.gardensafari.net/english/hoverflies.htm

Beeflies are out in April / May and I don't think they have a second brood...

"Little tip - even if you only have one 'type' of honey for sale put them in two separate piles with a taster jar at each, you'll get friends/couples arguing over which one tastes best and buying a jar to prove a point or buying one of each 'just in case'. And before anyone comments, even when...

I'd say that well over 50% of folks who try, will buy. It's essential to offer a taster. I use cocktail sticks. I even had to sell the taster jar today (at a reduced price), as the guy was so annoyed that the last jar had gone.

OK, so here is a top tip when you're doing a stall selling your honey... Bring a cloth and some water to mop up the spills. A couple of drips and spills from the trial jars can go a LONG WAY :( Any other tips from experienced stall holders?