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Thank you, that's very helpful.

Aware that this has been discussed here before, but my question is slightly different. This last winter I lost three hives in one of my apiaries, all identical symptoms, and I'm convinced this was due to exposure: it's a windy site especially in winter. It faces south but that's also where the...

Thinking about it, the three hives which died were in full sun, south facing. Formic Pro treatment was in August, lots of sun, max temp on the instructions is 29.5 deg. C. Which could have been exceeded in those three hives - that's the common factor - but not in my other three, which are in shade.

Definitely looks like a dwindle - but where have the bees gone? They'd usually be piled up on the floor. There were none outside the entrance either.

I didn't fully inspect much after July when I took the harvests off on the grounds that I don't like disturbing them more than necessary. The Formic Pro went on in mid-August and by the end f September, I had fondant on. But what's odd is that all six of my colonies, three each in two...

SImilar here: I lost three colonies in December - half the total. One looked a bit like late queen failure, with a few bees on the frames, a light sprinkling of bodies on the floor and a handful of play cups, but of the other two I have no idea. There were simply no bees, just a dozen or so on...

It's certainly underreported here, where in the port town of Newhaven, just a few km down the road, several V. velutina have been spotted, captured and reported. Not much mention of this incursion by DEFRA. Looks to me like there's a nest somewhere...

Could be. Or could be a combination of that, and workers now emerging from secondary nests we didn't know were there.

You cannot release a non-native species into the wild. Best thing is to capture and keep it until the AH team arrives. They can then track back to its nest. Failing that, zap it. But then we don't learn anything, such as: "are there any more of them?"

As the local AHT Co-ord, I've been informed of a good quality sighting in Newhaven. Traps have been set. So I've ensured the NBU was notified, and dropped details into my BKA and local Facebook groups. That's the job, I believe...

Yes, leave them to sort it.

Bit early for a secondary from this year. Secondary nests are not re-used so a hibernating queen is on her own. If there had been a secondary nest, one would imagine/hope that at least some of the thousands of worker hornets would have been spotted last autumn. My money is on a travelling queen...

Dead easy, right at the front. Where rain could and did get in...

Once went to shake a swarm off a tree into a box. I didn't bother with wellies as swarms are calm, right? They were - until I dropped the box which suddenly became a lot heavier than I was expecting. So that ankle bracelet thing? Yes, I know about that...

Another take-away tub of fondant for each hive yesterday as they'd finished the ones I put out mid-November. That should see them through. Lots of bees everywhere which is a good sign.

First fondant check this month - and one of the hives had emptied the container completely, mcuh to my surprise as there seemed to be plenty left eight days ago. Mad dash home to cut off a chunk from my 12kg block, dump it into the container and let 'em have it.

Their eyes don't look like drone's eyes. Might be hygenic behaviour at work - getting rid of infected/infested pupae.

This is why I went for the heaters I linked above. They're 60W each and warm the box nicely. Also controlled by an STC1000.

I couldn't find any when I looked in order to build a honey warming box. So I built it using a pair of these and a pair of heatsinks: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173027304161?var=471795014508 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175187401029?var=474390238126

Bees flying, excellent temperament, temps at 17 degrees today. Feeders off, Apivar strips in (late, but circumstances prevailed), Celotex and perspex quilt installed. Almost the end of the season with little more to do until it's fondant time. I shall miss them... :(