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Measure, review, repeat... measure, review, repeat, ... measure, review, repeat... sounds like hard work ;) Sounds easy - identify the sequence and then produce perfect queens every time. Reminds me of the periodic discussion of a magic wand to wave over a hive that indicates precisely where...

Check where the brood is; if it's predominantly in the upper box, reverse them so the cluster is nearer to the entrance, if it's split between upper and lower then quickly rearrange to lower box. Close up entrances for a day, e.g. with green grass, then reduce to single bee space with sponge or...

Actually I rather enjoyed the post, having just dipped in to catch up on a rainy day. It really didn't take much effort to follow the queen numbers quoted and see the point B+ was making. I'm not sure why you're being so derogatory about it.

That's Dave Cushman talking rubbish, not common but not unknown either. I remember his contributions to the Irish beekeeping list - DC fell into some of the classic BIBBA pseudo-science traps, and recites several on this one page, including the 'single brood box' fallacy. He is confusing...

I think some of this discussion misses the point of what beekeepers try to achieve. There seems to be a concern that adding traps to an apiary risks making robbing worse than having no traps at all. This doesn't seem logical. For the beekeeper, the purpose of a wasp trap is to deflect or deter...

Mark Winston's Biology of the Honeybee.

Why does this low water content and high acidity only apply to raw honey? Is this different to honey that has been filtered and bottled? By implication of the wording, non-"raw" honey contains (added?) preservatives...? Certainly no 'may' about containing traces of pollen with sieves, and not...

An interesting exchange here between Dave Cushman and Harry Cloake's son.

Well that's odd. I wrote the swarming material for the NDB Behaviour course, and co-wrote the Swarm Control course, and both are consistent in their descriptions of swarm preparation. Here's the summary timeline that we discuss in each course: I don't think you can lay the blame at the door...

Really? Who said that? Of course there are eggs there, and some open brood, and a hell of a lot of sealed/emerging brood, generally. If you were paying attention, you'd remember that what is said is that laying is reduced, not stopped; if you wanted more than just a soundbyte then you'd have...

Agree entirely, whether we're talking dogs, or bees, or whatever. I come across the "one box" sentiment often enough that I keep a bookmark in Cooper's book at that page. A vocal proponent of "one box" who immediately springs to mind is Roger Patterson, who tours the country for BIBBA...

Well done chaps, positive thinking :) It's like complaining that your wallet is contaminated by those plastic £10 notes ;) To seed a bucket of honey to alter granulation characteristics, you need to add about 10% fine-grained seed. Thus you need the equivalent of only 1 frame of OSR in a super...

Partial or complete amputation of mandible, foreleg, or antenna were discussed by DARG but considered too cruel a technique. Came across a case of supersedure yesterday whilst running a course in the home apiary. Young unclipped queen seen laying just after an old clipped queen with plump...

Oh, the irony :icon_204-2:

Starts out nice but steadily reverts to angry and defensive?

My father was part of the early DARG group that DC referred to - although I think it was more like 1982 than 1992. They actually concluded that the metal protecters were counterproductive, with an unusual number of QC failures to emerge within. By far the easiest solution they found was to...

Can't remember the worker cell measurement ranges, but that's only a google away. They vary due to a number of factors, including variation over time in the same colony. Once 'small cell' was thought to be the cure for varroa... but it wasn't. As regards why they built drone comb, they do it...

Oh what an anticlimax :( OK, so what happens if you microwave a jar of honey with the metal lid on?

Given the losses this spring, I'd expect few colonies to be coming up for sale yet.