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Down to 7 as I lost a colony late last year. Also bear in mind last year was my first season so I am still finding my feet. Here are 4 of them.

Ok, Im Starting a second apiary a few miles away from where my bees are. The explanation is- Last year I did not get any honey, bad August and the bees ate the stores and also most of the hives swarmed! I'm not keen to split as I want my bees to build strength and may be get a honey crop!! I...

First inspection shows no brood at all. I have a nuc ordered and should arrive soon. Plan 1 is to unite the nuc to the queenless hive. Plan 2 is to give them some eggs and let them get on with it. I'm just a little concerned that its too early for bees to rear their own queen and have mating...

Im not sure whether to cover the feed holes in the crown board now I have stopped feeding them. Bees have plenty of stores. Do I leave them open for ventilation or cover them over with some wood? Cliff

First inspection this year shows bees have filled the gap between the crown board with comb and is stuffed full of honey. Some goes into the roof space. I scraped it all away but the bees were landing in the honey and getting stuck. I took the mass away, about 1lb in weight. Do you feed this...

I posted this not long ago and got some good suggestions. http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8432&highlight=cliffdale

Thats the plan to go Demaree method. Swarm control and splitting hives. Original question, should I super first to give room then add 2nd brood box. bees here going mad! Dandelion gorse hawthorn hedges with yellow flowers Cow parsley i think its called Cliff

Add above the second brood box

Last year I lost a lot of bees to swarms, I think mainly because lack of room. This year I'm going to double brood box system. Is it best to add a super first and then double brood when the brood frames look full? Bees are so busy at the moment I thought I should add a super now and then...

Is there any guidance on when we put out our bait hives. My bees seem very active in the day at the moment. I have not done any inspections so I expect they are just building.

Glad to see bees on gorse. Is it only pollen they are after or does gorse give nectar Cliff

Not sure about brood. It was a very quick lid off and placed fondant on top of the frames, lid back on again. Didn't stop to look at anything else. Cliff

Super with foundation topped with feed.

Should I bang on a super with some light sugar feed? It looked pretty full. Other hives are about 5 frames. Cliff

Several sites planned I have several sites ready to take new hives. They are better as they are closer to town.

Retirements starts end of July. So the idea is to build stocks this year ready to an extent it will keep me busy next year onwards. The side line will be making cheap plywood hives and nucs.

I think they ate the stores as the August weather in Cornwall was so bad. Plenty of other bee keepers had the same problem. I was surprised that they swarmed as all colonies were from 5 frame nucs in May. They had plenty of room. Sometimes I think its the position of the apiary. Its...

NO NO NOOOOOOOOO! Ive had enough. NO JOB Wanted Free time now please.

Sometimes I think what the helll have I done. So I have great plans to expand the apiaries and spend more time building stocks. Last year was a disastrous first year, plenty of swarmed colonies and no honey to extract. The supers were full end of July and all gone by September! A couple of...

Is it possible to use 3 frames of eggs, brood and place them centrally in a commercial size 6 frame nuc? Slowly move the national frames to the outer edges of the nuc and use commercial frames in the centre. Take away the outer frames, (eventually). I know not to split the colony with...