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Earlier this season I placed an empty BB above the existing one and moved my strongest colony to double brood. it is now going great guns with 16 frames of brood. Thinking afterwards that I should have placed it below, that is what I did with another colony. On checking that colony today, the...

I cannot tell much from the picture. Quite often when opening up some drone cells get ripped open as a frame is removed. Could be that

I am no expert but have produced perfectly adequate emergency queens. It depends on how much you seek perfection. Some people with only a few hives are quite happy just keeping these going and producing some honey without chasing maximum production

Responders - Many thanks for your expert advice which I will now follow. ( I even know what a mattock is now !)

None really but I could stretch to a ploy tunnel. At present I am leaving them out on a table during teh day and putting them in the garage overnight. I am not sure how long I can do that for without the plants suffering though as it could be weeks at this rate.

Despite reading an earlier post on how difficult it is to establsih a wild flower meadow, I have 500 plug plants waiting to be planted to form the basis of a wfm. My question for more experienced gardners is this - I have had these plug plants for 2 days already yet I am reluctant to plant them...

A very small amount of pollen compared to others. The inspection was too quick to look for polished cells

Knowing that I have sufficient experience to get in and out in under 2 minutes, and with the temperatures in the South so warm today, I decided to follow a recent post and remove 1 frame, push the others and pull out a frame or 2 in seconds to have a quick check.; I have 4 colonies and 1 NUC all...

I learned that your sweet natured garden bees can turn very nasty for no apparent reason

My bees are right next to a livery stable - never been an issue or even close to one

No I saw them still flying out. Within seconds the cold got to them and they collapsed in the snow. This picture only shows some of them. I rsuhed to get blocks as soon as possible or I would have lost hundreds of bees - hence my warning. I had read before about protecting from sunlight in the...

:hairpull::hairpull::hairpull:For the past few days my hives have been surrounded by 6 inches of snow and the weather has been overcast. This afternoon we had about 30 minutes of sunshine and I was amazed at how many bees ventured out and perished in the snow, dotting it with their dead bodies...

I have a 6 frame poly NUC from you know who and it is my first time looking to bring a NUC through winter. My concern is that although I ensured that it was rammed full of stores before winter closure the colony seems to be racing through them. A couple of weeks back on a warmish day I opened up...

I have a hot tub along with 5 colonies. They are obsessed with the hot tub and often drown. They have two ponds next door to the hives. So they do prefer the hot tub water and it must be the chemicals as the water that splashes around the lid is cold by the time they go for it. It must be an...

Apparently they cannot allow teh land to lay unproductive so a crop such as oats will have to go in.

My local farmer planted acres of OSR right next to me this year and I was looking forwards to a bumper harvest and fun and games with swarmy bees. I learned today that the crop had totally failed, along with other farmers in Surrey. Appartently weather related but he will now have to plant oats...

I got moisture in two of my hives recently during ok weather which is a new one for me. Nothing out of the ordinary or different from previous years and all on omf. The hives are protected by a beech hedge in full leaf. This worries me as it may be a continuing problem. Any suggestions as to why.

I agree. I have had completely "free" hives until I put the Api on. My theory is that ants etc eat them from the tray

My bees have been just like yours all season - 3 out of 4 previoulsy docile hives. I have no idea why yet when I got some new queens to requeen last weekend they suddenly had become all calm again. My conclusion is that we really do not know soemtimes why they are the way they are. Bees to me...

I have lobelia in hanging baskets and tubs and much to my surprise my bees are all over them..they leave the 53 lavenders I planted to the bumbles