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No definite plan other than I extracted honey earlier this year so that I was able to do my varroa treatments earlier, thus leaving time afterwards for the Queen to lay up some new Brood. (Sometimes varroa treatments stop the Queen laying). I was careful how much I fed them to make sure the bees...

Exactly what happened to me last year. Lost all my colonies except for one. Winter was late in starting, and lots of mild days here in the South. So the Bees were out flying instead of resting. Many of my winter Bees didn't make it through the winter. The Hives were full of food, but very few...

Keep to 5 colonies. (A lot of varroa treatment comes in packs to treat 5 hives). Pass on any swarms to new beekeepers. Trade in the box of wax that I have accumulated these past 10 years. Definitely have a tidy up of beekeeping equipment, and get rid of stuff I am never going to use. Try not to...

Delivered a gift of a jar of honey and a Christmas card to the land owner today. Always a nice experience as people are so very grateful. Especially at this time of year as you know they will be eating that honey on boxing day.

Checked all my Abelo hives today. Noted one of them had several bees on the floor blocking the mouse guard entrance. Gave it a quick clean. Will have to keep an eye on this one.

They do sometimes. I suggest you contact them and ask when they are likely to be having a sale. If they are not planning on one in the near future they may send you a discount voucher

Sometimes the Queen will stop laying during varroa treatment. You said you were removing the apiguard, which could the situation. One good reason not to leave varroa treatment too late into the season.

If you want to keep some jars of honey runny put them in your freezer. Honey doesn't have much water in so doesn't expand when frozen. In fact honey doesn't freeze solid in a domestic freezer. Then when you want a jar allow it to thaw for an hour, and it's ready to go. A lot safer than using heat

A weak queenless colony. I would combine. Unless there are signs of disease. One less to treat and feed.

I used to keep bees on an allotment site. The allotment keepers were always grateful to me for caring for the bees there, and would show their gratitude in the form of fruit and vegetables at times. They firmly believed that my bees increased their crops. Maybe you should point out to the...

Sorry Jo. I thought you were a new bee.

I think Jo is a fairly new beekeeper. So unlikely to know what the weight should feel like.

I would check that they have sufficient stores. You won't know unless you look

It will be interesting to see how our American friends react when they have yellow legged Hornets visiting the almond orchards.

I think we will all be invited for boosters again soon. I hope you and your wife are feeling better soon.

I spend hours making plans. Only to have to rethink them when I open the hive

Enjoying the summer weather today. Lots of pollen being collected. Very little nectar coming in. Removed some supers of honey. Only have a small crop this year due to last year's winter losses. Should be able to leave a super of honey on each hive for winter

I always use ant powder to destroy wasp nests. It's not expensive, works fast, and the returning wasps end up carrying it deep in to the nest.

If you think they need it then feed them. The reason feeding is not recommended normally is that the Apiguard works best when being carried around the hive as the bees clear it out of the Hive. However with a feeder on the Bees are likely to ignore the Apiguard in favour of collecting and...

I am currently using a piece of white fish in water (with a very small drop of dish soap). I use plastic bottle traps with a side entrance, and small pin holes in the top. The wasps fly in, pick of a piece of fish then fly around inside the bottle till eventually falling in the water. Some just...