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Transferred 3 nucs into proper Nationals. In the rain. They didn't seem to mind...

Thanks Derek - that's very useful advice.

Yes, I'm seeing red (horse chestnut?), white, and a range of yellows. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Strewth! They swarmed for a third time yesterday afternoon, finally settling on a gravelly driveway. So I gathered them up - still magic watching them walk up into the box once you've caught HM. Plonked them back in the hive, together with a frame of brood stolen from another hive (they weren't...

Thanks for the suggestions. They swarmed again this morning but then returned to the hive eventually. I'm hoping this means they've decided that it's their best bet....

I know how that goes! The coda to my story is that, while I was away fetching a new hive for the swarm, they swarmed again. Fortunately, she didn't get much further than right next to the swarm box! So when I got back, a bit surprised to find the box empty but covered in bees, I had it all to do...

My first swarm of the year, anyway. They were clustered around the bottom of a rough fence post with a couple of horizontal posts just shoved through a hole in the vertical. The bees were all around the junction of the horizontals and I suspected, as I brushed bees off the post into my swarm...

Wow! Both hives bursting with bees, one on a single BB and now a super, the other on brood & a half, plus two supers - the second one added today, trying to stay ahead of the bees. New glass cover boards will allow me a peek without disturbing them. Hundreds of bees orienting, the air filled...

Now that cheers me up (sorry) - four years and I've yet to manage that unmarked queen spotting thing...

Nice job, thank you for sharing.

I'm looking after some hives where the honey is not required - they want to leave it for the bees. There is OSR in the area - but I'm assuming the bees can deal with it. They've had millions of years of practice...

Sure, good question. Only one (the smallest) has feed - I want to build it up quickly. But it's the last feed until after extraction... Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

PS: How many do you want? Quid each OK?

Yesterday I inspected my two colonies. One had three frames of brood with plenty of space to expand. All looked healthy, with bees in all stages. I left them with liquid feed. The second, on brood and a half above a nadired super, was bursting with bees - five frames of wall-to-wall brood and...

Now there's a plan... :)

Thanks - I just use Tinkercad (free and easy!). Here's the STL file.

Well, if the bees don't like it, they'll fill them in. Or I can print blocks without holes. Whatever...

I'm going to use these to fill the escape holes in my glass quilts - best of both worlds?

I think a bit of ventilation is a good thing - hence the mesh holes. They've yet to be tested in anger though, so I shouldn't be surprised if the bees propolise them. Their choice...

I just 3D printed a few of these custom blocks to fill the holes in cover boards. I don't use Porter escapes so this seemed like an easier path than pinning bits of mesh over the holes.