Search results

Hi, This is a small swarm from this May. They've drawn 7 frames and are contented. I haven't been in to look at the brood chamber,, yet,, but they don't seem to want to go in the door. it's not blocked. There's even bees coming back out still with the pollen baskets full! very curious.

Our ginger tom used to leave just the hind feet! I gave him a mouse from the shed trap once, he turned his nose up, walked off, and half an hour later brought me a big male rat and dumped it at my feet! One Christmas he ran off with the frozen turkey, still in it's wrapper, off down the garden...

I managed to cancel thankfully. 4 hives at the moment is plenty as it's been a hectic time for me this year, lets see what next year brings.

Update! so the last post had a 50p size clutch of eggs. That was just 8 days ago!! Today there are 6 complete sides of sealed brood in the BB and 5 big arches of sealed brood in the super!! There's larvae everywhere. so much so that I just walked away smiling when I saw a Beautiful big Queen...

There's no bumble bees around here! a couple of years ago whilst sitting by the flower garden on my allotment there were smallish bumbles on the Pullmanaria? (spotty green leaf plant with pink and blue flowers in the spring) But there was this fly, about the size of a blue bottle, little bit...

Do bees collect nectar from the blue flax crop? there's about 40 acres half a mile away.

I've got red goosgoggs and redcurrants basically alongside the flight path of one of my hives, the pigeons go nowhere near them!

The allotment is doing okay-ish, french beans are at the top, globe cucumbers are bushing and starting to climb, Brussels have huge dinner plate leaves, sweetcorn 18 inches, high onions are looking good, carrots a-plenty but two sowings of parsnips are nowhere to be seen! lots more including...

I had two of them, over winter the trunk was gnawed all around by something, suspect rats, and they copped it.

does anyone offhand know the size the excluder slots are supposed to be?

To let the drones out?? it's a round hole that can be covered by the sliding door. I shall have to do a short vid so's people can see the problem and definitely the excluders too.

This question is because I've noticed that the poly hive bees in the paradise honey hive struggle to get through the door! okay it's got drone slots on the end but I feel sorry for the girls coming in and out and struggle. Also, all my bees struggle to get through the excluders be they plastic...

There's a monster mature Lime 100 yards away, there's so many flowers the tree is more yellow than green! The blackberries around here have huge flowers and the mock orange is out in force. I've got hives that are the other side of a hedge to quite a large property that grows annuals and...

Update today, Got my best reading glasses on and went in! The super was receiving honey from below, not capped but grown in volume since 2 days ago No sign of any eggs in the super. In the brood, removed outside frames, nothing remarkable, part drawn outside and honey stuffed inside uncapped...

Thanks for the reply Hemo, probably sound advice.

@Steve, This is the most placid bees ever, They're horizontal! I checked the super and there's no sign of eggs in there, and a very slow and studious inspection , nothing, just all frames chocka with honey. @ Eric, I'd like to get them back on their feet asap as the lime is starting, There are...

My best hive made itself queenless. They swarmed when I turned my back for 7 days, when I checked them after, they had a sealed Qc and a few swarm cups which I removed, I made sure that the QC was put back safely and shut them up to get on with it. I caught the original swarm and hived it, I...

We've 'domestic' brambles in flower (they've loved all the rain) and the Lime is showing too.

It's murder on the plot now! I've always dug the plots, fertilised and mulched the beds BEFORE November! but when it started to hammer down in October it was impossible to get on there. Our allotment is clay, but as it's been worked for decades it's okay as long as you don't stand on it. So now...

well it's like this, dig the plot over or get a cup of tea and sit by the girls!