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Did this last week on 2 of my hives. Wanted to turn them a full 180 degrees and did this by turning them in the end 45 degrees every 2 days. Tried jumping to 90 deg on one of the increments but noticed that early on the day and late in the day they struggled to find entrance - maybe because less...

Makes sense thanks. Yes here in Derby last few days have been the same poor weather.

Not seen this before so thought it was worth asking the question. Yesterday afternoon and again this morning I’ve noticed a lot of bees out on the grass in front of the hives. Appear to be collecting water from the dew on the grass. There normal water source they visit is about 30m away so are...

I’ve overwintered 2 colonies on 14x12’s with OMF and got a couple of questions as it’s my first spring beekeeping. They are flying when it’s warm so all looks ok and have been weighing each month. Question 1 I carried out an autumn varroa treatment of Apivar for 6weeks and done nothing over...

Thanks.

Still seeing drones from one of my hives. A couple of dead ones being dragged out but also seen some live ones coming and going today squeezing through the holes in the mouse guard. Is it normal to have drones end of Dec? Photo attached showing worker bee right and drone on the left.

😂

Quite a few on the hive but there were several arriving and departing every second flying off towards the same direction at least 50m away from the hive before I lost sight of them. Do they fly off some distance to defecate or do they do it around the hive ?

Noticed there’s a lot of activity today at 10:30 this morning. Temp is about 12deg so looks like they are making the most of it. Wonder what forage there is at this time of year that’s gets them so excited as the ivy has passed now in this area.

Added a tub with 2.5kg of fondant in the fondant cosy As this colony lost a few kg since I last weighed It.

First frost here Thursday night. Apivar strips removed. Empty rapid feeders removed. Crown boards removed. Fondant cosy”s fitted. With both hives now at around 20 kilos of stores my plan was to maybe add fondant in a month or 2 (fondant cosy can hold 2.5kg block of fondant) just to be on the...

Checked on the bees through my see through crown board and noticed this fella under the roof Found earwigs most of the time but never one of these I assume it’s a cricket

Noticed there’s still drones coming and going. Got them coming and going on both of my hives. Is it normal to have drones this time of year?

Looking for a good quality western red cedar WBC hive ideally with 14x12 brood box for next season to compliment my current setup. I’m in South Derbyshire just south of Derby and I’m happy to collect.

Thanks. Will do.

Thanks. I like to think of it as the latter 🤣

Yes 2nd box is for the rapid feeder. Taking down about 1kg of sugar every 2 days at the moment with it mixed at 2:1. Thanks for the advice on moving frames. I’ve noticed that when the temp drops the wasps can get in much easier. Once I’m up to 20kg of stores which should be by wed based on...

Started beekeeping in April this year and have 2 colonies so this is my first winter. Finding the advice on here really useful and using it in conjunction with a Bee keeping friend who I bought my nuc off. Due to sometimes having deer and other wildlife in the garden and being on top of a...

Watched the bees returning a really good flow today. Noticed the odd drone still about returning to the hive and also the odd bee that’s been on the Himalayan balsam. I first saw them collecting Himalayan Balsam in mid August so surprised they are still finding it now in October. Does Himalayan...

I have 2 colony’s and 1 took the syrup down no problem, on day 1 but the other took about 4 days to start. Dribbled down syrup etc so that wasn’t the issue. The eager colony that took it down on day 1 were much lighter on stores than the less eager ones so not sure if that is the difference.