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I wasn't aware I had an obsession.

I'm sure that I'm not the first person to have this thought. How much damage do we as Beekeepers cause through placing Hives too close to each other? Whilst our bees may not spread disease or infection by coughing on each other, they could do so by sharing nectar. If the colonies are too close...

What was the final outcome in this project Minxpinx ?

No thank you. Beekeeping for me is a relaxing hobby that helps balance out the stress and hassle work and daily life can bring. So turning it into a job would not work for me

Thornes sell a kit with metal discs that allow you to pick the Queen up with a magnetic pen. I think it was also suggested that by installing a magnetic strip at the hive entrance it would catch the Queen should she attempt to leave, thus preventing swarms. (I may have dreamt that last bit).

If your judgement is based on the fact that you have no brood and are unable to visually spot the Queen it doesn't mean that you are Queenless. There may be a non laying Queen or a virgin Queen in there. The marking paint may have been cleaned off the old Queen. If you put a new Queen in there...

Anything that keeps me out of her way and prevents me from getting under her feet seems to be acceptable. I just don't tell her how much it costs. Sometimes I will say my bees had to make xxx jars of honey to pay for that

Lots of big bumblebees visiting our garden over the past few weeks 🙂

I too have one of my colonies that appear Queenless. However there are lots of bees in there, and even though there are no eggs or brood they are nice and calm, collecting pollen and nectar. My thoughts are that if there is a non laying Queen in there I need to find her before doing anything. A...

No eggs, so no laying workers which is good. Possibly an unmated Queen, which you would need to find before planning to replace her. Possibly an old Queen, again you would need to find her. You could try adding a test frame (containing some eggs) from another hive to see if they try building...

I kept bees on allotments for several years, so was able to observe all the new allotment keepers starting up with their new allotments each April. Initially they would be very enthusiastic, but by mid summer most of their allotments would be overgrown and we wouldn't see them again. Their...

On a positive note. They survived the winter 🍯

I remember joining a similar site when I first started beekeeping. It worked well and my advertisment attracted customers from as far as 30 miles away. In the end I removed my details from the site because I had obtained more custom than I needed. So as far as helping advertise my honey at a...

You need to be inspecting your colonies every week. Before doing this weekly inspection make sure you know what you should be looking for. If you are not sure then seek guidance from a beekeeper that has some experience. One thing you need to look for every week is any swarm preparations. If you...

Standard one. 50 litres

Been there, done it, learned. I once had 24 hives. Realised it was less enjoyable than caring for just 4 or 5 I also realised that having 5 times as many hives did not necessarily mean 5 times the amount of honey. What it did mean though was 5 times the financial outlay.

I have an Abelo honey creamer. It doesn't whisk the honey as you might first imagine. It stirs the honey (not fast) for 15 minutes every hour. As the honey starts to set/crystalise the machine ensures that the small crystals from the seed honey are evenly mixed in. It's easy to use, easy to...

What tastes nicest? The bottle/jar/packet costing £1.00 Or the bottle/jar/packet costing £12.00 Everyone knows that the £12 one is going to be better. However when the difference in price is less than £4 we can convince ourselves that we have a bargain. I think we should be selling honey at a...

It appears that it helps the bees fight disease by supporting their gut health, which would help protect them from Nosema. The charts showed to us during the webinar showed that colonies fed seaweed additives grew stronger, producing more honey, and suffered less Nosema. I am guessing healthier...

Thymol, Lemon Grass, and seaweed. The seaweed is the main beneficial ingredient.