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When you close them up, check that they can't get out at each end of the entrance slider. There's often a bee-sized gap which needs plugging with Blu Tack or similar.

My hives are partially under a large horse chestnut tree. One hive doesn't get any sun until late afternoon and is always the last to get going in the morning. But for a few days a couple of weeks ago the sun was reflected on to them from a window in my neighbour's house during the first half...

I thought the problem with using a microwave is that you get overheating in hot spots?

Do you have a super on this hive? I've just had exactly this experience. I was a bit puzzled until I found the Q had got up into the super and was busily laying there.

In one apiary I visit there is an 8ft high mesh fence behind and to one side of a row of hives. The bees don't have any problem leaving the hives, but some do try to return through the side fence. It can be a nuisance because the purpose of the side fence is to shield a path. This fence is...

Thank you all for those hints and tips - that's really helpful. I think I just didn't give it enough stirring. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with the current batch, but I know better what to do in future.

I gave it a second mixing after about 24 hours and then bottled it up the next day. Maybe I didn't mix it for long enough? Should I have done a third mixing? Is the temperature of the seed honey critical?

If it's not air, do you have any clues as to what has caused the spotty frosting? It hasn't happened with the first batch I made. Could it be something to do with the seeding honey?

Regrettably, most of my family don't really like honey! And those that do, have got enough to keep them going for several years -I had a bumper crop last season. I think melting it is probably what I'm going to have to do. I was thinking of trying FatShark's suggestion of just softening it...

Thanks for the Fatshark link - that's very helpful. I did try really hard not to introduce air bubbles - I used a corkscrew type mixer which I thought was going slow and gentle enough not to be incorporating much air. And I did leave it for about 48 hours before bottling - as Ian said, it was...

I tried making soft set honey a couple of months ago - first time I've done this. The first batch went fine, but the pictures show what has happened to the second lot. Can anyone tell me what I did wrong please?

Tesco withdraws own-brand honey https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50551385

I do it this way too. One advantage is that you're not trying to put a super on the old floor which is covered in bees. The only thing I do differently is to move the whole hive forward about 3 feet first, then put the new floor with the super back in its position and then transfer the brood...

I've tried exactly this setup with two hives - it didn't work! One of the supers got a handful of bees in it, but they were just wandering about. The other one didn't have any bees. I tried making the empty space bigger, and I tried making it smaller. I tried bruising the capped honey...

Yes, it is really - Apiguard needs 4 weeks of temperatures of 15deg, so needs to be started end of Aug/beginning of Sept at latest.

That's the way to go .... the National box will fit fine over the WBC OMF but there could be an issue with rain collecting on the floor outside the box. That will be solved if you put lifts and a roof on.

Why / how does flying prevent dysentery?

WBC boxes aren't square because if they were, they'd be Nationals :) But try a National box - you'll probably find it will fit inside the lifts.

Yeah, I'll let you know how it goes. I'll have another try next week.

I've had the same this year - some supers packed full but hardly any of it capped. All reading 18.5 or less. A refractometer is such a reassuring thing to have.