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I use a 12v motorcycle battery with mine. Shoves out enough amps and is much lighter than a car battery. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

When you say return the combs do you mean give back drawn combs to the person who gave you the colony? If so, be careful as it's not recommended or hygienic. Give the donor made up new or sterilised frames and a pack of foundation. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I use boiled linseed oil on my hives. Easy to apply with a brush or cloth and 2 coats will last for a long time. Will darken the wood slightly, give the hives a slight amber tinge. Can be used inside the hives as well as on the outside. Use boiled linseed rather than raw otherwise it will take...

Get a comb cutter from one of the suppliers, a lot less messy than using a knife.

For cleaning, as opposed to sterilisation, a solution containing washing soda (this is not the same as caustic soda) is OK. Works best if the solution is heated, avoid using an aluminium container though. Simple sterilisation of boxes, roofs etc. for most amateur beekeepers is easiest done with...

Like Chris I try and scrape the frames clean whilst they are still warm. It's messy and time consuming, but not too bad if you only have one of two boxes to do. It's the bars that are a bit fiddly as these come out covered in propolis and cocoon debris. I tend to re-use the same brood box rather...

Most of the equipment suppliers offer a trade in service, you don't need to wait for one of the big shows to exchange it. It should be reasonably clean. If you think yours might be a bit too dirty then put it in an old pan and bring it up to the temperature required to melt it, around 64C. Might...

If at some stage you do make your own boxes then go for 18mm ply rather than 15mm. Using 18mm thickness ply will mean that you can mix your ply brood boxes with standard cedar ones and won't need "specially" dimensioned floors, crownboards etc as they will conform to BS National sizes give or...

For most woods the rule of thumb is a year for each inch of thickness. However I have found mine to be dry within 6 months. WRC is a stable wood and you shouldn't find that it shrinks or warps too much. As recommended above stick it to allow it to air dry. Andy

I would recommend "Queen Rearing Simplified" by Vince Cook. More of a booklet than a book. Easy to read and the recommended techniques are suitable for small scale beekeepers, eg those with only a few hives. For me the best thing about Vince's suggested technique is that it can be done with a...

Oliver Yes it's rough sawn but they will plane to thickness, for a 10% surcharge. Air drying should only take about 4 months as I have found WRC dries very quickly compared to other timbers. The planed timber doesn't seem to shrink much, if any, in thickness but does lose some in the width...

I get mine from Norbury Park sawmill near Leatherhead. Very accommodating bunch. Their delivery charges are really high, but they are local to me so I can collect. They are having an open day on 11 May, so why not make it a day out and arrange to collect some timber at the same time. Be careful...

Bear in mind if they are queenless then introducing a frame of eggs so they can raise a queen is likely to be counter productive for a number of reasons : Small colonies don't usually raise good queens Unlikely to have nurse bees (young bees) to be able to produce royal jelly Lack of mature...

Yes, boiled linseed oil isn't really boiled at all by you or even the manufacturer. It's treated with some additives to make it dry faster. Raw linseed oil takes forever to dry.

Ideally you need to consider a co-ordinated approach. For example try and agree a common weekly inspection time. That way you can start to help each other especially if some of the others are also novices. Whilst there may be room for 5 hives you will undoubtedly have to perform some form of...

I should have said in my earlier post that parts that come in to contact with the ground I stand in whatever solution I use for 24 - 48 hours. This gets the part completely soaked for longer lasting protection for things like hive stand legs etc. Andy

You could treat with boiled Linseed oil. Very easy to apply with a brush. May need a couple of coats. In these temperatures it may take a while to dry and cure.

I use dried grass in my smoker - quite a nice smell, as well as slow burn with cool smoke. The association I belong to uses cocoa chips - bit more difficult to light but burn very slowly. Andy

I'm slowly switching over to 14 x 12 as I also found going through a brood and a half time consuming. It's also easier if I have to swap frames around between colonies when one may need a boost of a frame of eggs. Going through the Winter is easier as you only need to worry about getting one...

Lost 2 out of 15, not surprised as they were late mated queens so possibly not correctly mated. Think I will lose a few more as the number of seams of bees indicates quite a few of the remaining colonies are on the small side. Still have plenty of stores, so not having to give them fondant...