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Thanks again for the advice. The reason I've been quiet is that I haven't been able to do anything yet. The apiary is temporarily close to a building site where people are working during the day. I can't disturb the bees then because people have been stung as a consequence when I do. So the...

Yes. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Good plan re the gloves - I'll try nitriles over the gauntlets - they're pretty smooth and I've got a box-full.

That's really useful, thanks. I'll give that a try.

...or am I being a wimp? I'm up to three colonies now, two of them good as gold, the third, with a recently hatched queen following a swarm, is full of absolute ******s. They've been massively defensive, following for up to 20 minutes, attacking not just me but passers-by and people working...

Don't buy one of those 'perfectly serviceable' £130 extractors on eBay. I broke my rule of never buying cheap because it's almost always a false economy. It's got horrid sharp edges to all the internal parts which cut my fingers to pieces - don't fancy blood-flavoured honey, thank you very...

You're probably right. Bit of a shock at the time - I thought I might be about to come under a sustained attack! Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Dump a couple of 2kg packets of sugar into 2 litres of hot water, give a good stir, then go and do something else for an hour or so, stirring occasionally. Hardly a big deal.

Last week, wearing just a mid-grey T-shirt & jeans, I approached four hives that I'm looking after and - as I usually do - carried a couple of boxes full of gear to within about 5 metres of the hives. Put the boxes down - and got stung! So I grabbed my suit, got (ran!) away from the hives, put...

Yes, I've just recaptured a swarm from one of my hives - which were only installed à week ago. Must have been cramped. Will re-hive tomorrow. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Marvellous, thanks, I'll try it. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

What's the three pairs of frames trick, please ? Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Installed a new colony from a local beek who's down-sizing. Need to transfer the frames to my BB / supers and slap on a super or two... Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Also dismantled the hive that failed over winter. Looks like starvation - this was my fault, and very depressing. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Scraped goodness knows how much propolis and brace comb off two BBs worth of frames, ready for a new set of bees from a fellow beek who's scaling down. Looking forward to getting the new girls settled in tomorrow. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Yes, I do understand what you mean, but the person selling me the bees wants to keep the hardware - and I also don't know how old the comb is or what the varroa load is. It's what we've agreed so we'll go with that. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Got it, thanks. I think we'll do a shook swarm. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Isn't that a shook swarm? Anyway, this is how the owner of my new bees wants to deal with it, and I have brood boxes and frames all ready, so it's fine with me. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

Thanks - I've been able to obtain a hive full of bees. The owner wants to keep the kit but not the bees so I'll do a shook swarm, and unite them with what's left of my failed colony. Sent from my Mi A2 Lite using Tapatalk

First inspection of the year - and the news is all bad. I'm down to one colony, and in the last 4-5 weeks, I'd estimate, the queen either died or failed. No brood, no eggs, just stores. And about 10% of the normal size of colony. Is it worth my while acquiring a queen or are they too far gone...