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Hmm, I cant smell it from here, so maybe I'd better start.

Looks like this summer is over before it began as far as nectar flow is concerned here. Currently feeding 1:1 but I'm starting to think that I might as well start the winter 2:1 before too long, not expecting them to bring much else in. Any thoughts?

Sod all here as far as I (and the bees) can tell. Emergency feeding started. Had a decent spring though so not all bad, but will get nothing this summer.

2 out of 3 colonies close to starvation and fed. Will keep a close eye on the 3rd.

Head above the parapet time. In my first or second year I had a particularly viscous colony. A lot of horses and kids passed quite closely on a public footpath so I was concerned. I killed the queen as preparation to replacing her. No remote potential apiary was known to me. After 4 or 5...

Checked varroa boards, luckily little or no signs of the blighters so treatment will wait until after final harvest

Done it for nine years now (realise this is insignificant compared to many here) and getting out while still some enjoyment. The lady who is taking over hasn't done it before, beyond a couple of inspections with me, but is a good learner, I have said I'll help her out for the first year at least

I'm passing my colonies on to another over the next year, and yesterday was her first inspection. Went very well, she spotted an unmarked queen immediately, something I'd failed to do on numerous occasions, which we then marked. All three colonies showing good laying and sufficient stores, if...

Not deepened any floors, but otherwise agree. My Paines poly hive's varooa board slot is too tight to the bottom of the OMF so that one has the steel tray placed under the brood box on the stand itself with a bit more padding of towels.

Eeek - not yet done my second OSR harvest - today's the day

We must have a game sometime

Many thanks for the (short) reply - Id suspected as much but realised I didn't actually know Sent from my SM-G901F using Tapatalk

If a colony consists of just a queen with older bees, will some of them revert to nurse duties when she starts laying? Sent from my SM-G901F using Tapatalk

Introduced new queen. Fingers crossed.

Please ignore

On reflection I wasn't sure if having the colony with the duff queen on top may encourage some of the good flyers back to the bad hive, especially as the new queen hasn't arrived yet, so I left the top entrance shut for all but a few hours yesterday while the bees in the new hive got bedded in...

Thanks for the replies

Trying to isolate scrub queen by moving brood box and putting new on in its place

Wouldnt that prohibit swarms, or does she go out of "laying condition" for that?

Hi all Presumably the queen does some orientation before going off on the maiden flight. Does she retain this memory - ie if she is shaken out some yards away a few months later, will she remember how to fly back to the colony?