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West Horsley - there are a surprising number of beeks in E & W Horsley

Whilst year 2 is definitely a different experience it is just as fun. In year one I too was in "love with my bees" and took 2 colonies carefully and worryingly through the winter. This year all hell broke loose with multiple swarms etc. All that love and attention and the b....ards left me ...

My mentor said to always shake the bees off (into the hive) or you will miss QC's

I had a small colony from a NUC which I got at the end of last season. I overwintered on 6 frames. They then went from 6 frames to swarming within 14 days. Perhaps the mega hot April just confused them. In any case, they definitely do not always read the books.

"People say" that you shoudl leave it to the bees to select the queen cell and they will tear down the others. Equally others suggest as you do

With the huge heat and a field of rape next door, I AS'd both my colonies last Saturday, one in the traditional way and one with a snelgrove. Despite this both colonies swarmed. One swarmed an hour or so later, I got it back but it went the next day. The other swarmed the next day, I put it back...

I took in a swarm as a newbie last May and realised late in the day that it was riddled with varroa. I was soon getting Deformed wing virus which got worse and worse. I tried icing sugar which did not do the trick and then gave weekly and copius amounts of hiveclean. This knocked down loads of...

The best crown of thorns is from T****** as it is made of wood and wire. They were out of stock when I first wanted one and I had to settle for a totally plastic one which is not nearly so flexible

My first super is pretty full but not capped at all and I am unsure exactly when I should add the next one. Do I wait until it is mainly capped ? I have a filed of OSR coming into flower next door and so I am keen to get this right. Advice woudl be much appreciated.

A rather nice piece of wall art at the National Trust shop at Box Hill in Surrey

I note various commenst advising "bruising" the stores in order to get them moved "upstairs". I woudl appreciate a little more detail in terms of exactly what you should do.

We have some OSR in flower in Guildford - not masses yet but every day there are more flowers

I have two hives in my garden, right next to two ponds with easy access to water without drwoning. Despite this they insist on using my hot tub for their water supplies. I have blocked all gaps with rags but they still congregate there trying to gain access which is a mystery as the water...

just type wbc hive into google images and you will find loads

I over wintered with a super for stores and intend to keep it in place to make brood and a half this year. My concern is accidentally harming the queen during manipulations. On the first inspection last weekend, the queen was seen on a BB frame so I did not check the super below for fear of...

I have used Hiveclean extensively as a swarm I took in has a serious varroa problem, which I did not spot as a total newbie, which then led to a nasty case of DWV. It was too early to use Api. It definitely works to an extent as it kept my colony alive until I put the Api on but it is more like...

I reckon it is excellent. I was given this book as a present and it the reason that I became a beekeeper

With my first hive last year I studiously checked the Varroa tray each day and found pleasing results. Later in the year I discovered that I had a massive problem with Varroa and nearly lost the colony through deformed wing. What had been happening is that ants (or similar) had been eatimng the...

Thanks - the video no 83 was just the ticket. Can't wait to get home this evening and have a go

Nope - it is teh one from Thornes