Search results

I lost two colonies this winter, probably due to the bad weather. Most of the dead bees in the brood boxes had mould on them when I found them. There was both capped and uncapped honey on most frames, all honey appeared to be mould free. My question is how to best clean the inside of the brood...

Is there anything to be gained (or lost) by putting the varroa counting tray in place under the open mesh floor to stop cold/damp air from entering the hive, either instead of or as well as insulating above the crown board?

I used Tesco's Value beer and water (half and half) with 2 tablespoons of vineger. Wasps = loads, bees = none.

I need to get rid of some troublesome wasps later, I think I'll try your idea out on the hive!

I can confirm that there are no access holes through the roof and that the crown board holes are covered over with a bit of glass. This still doesn't overcome the origional problem, wasps getting into the hive. I have an entrance block in place that has a 16mm single hole in, although I am today...

I had a look at my hives 5 days ago and all seemed ok. A few wasps seen flying around, but probably no more than 4 or 5 at a time. The entrance block was in and the bees seemed to be doing ok. I have been away since then and came back to a bee masacre! There were loads of wasps flying around and...

Can anybody give me a simple answer and explain the differences to the bees of feeding them sugar syrup and fondant. Also when to feed and why the difference between the strength of sugar syrup. Thanks.

Do people keep their varoa floors (the plastic ones that go under the mesh) on the hives all the time or do they just sit there when you are actually counting mite drop? Does this depend on the time of year, ie off during summer and on during winter?

I know that this may be a little early in the year to worry about this but I am trying to think ahead to what I might need to do. I had a new nuc that I have hived in a National hive. They were expanding nicely when they decided to swarm. The colony that is left has a new laying queen and they...

I have a frame of foundation that has largely been drawn out on the brood side, but is untouched on the other. There are quite a few cells which have been drawn out but the base of the cell is missing, ie the bees have eaten it away. Is this normal or is it a problem? The missing bottoms are in...

Ok, following my earlier post I've just been back and knocked them back into the origional brood box (the one they were under as in the picture). As they went back in, I saw the queen and recognised her colour marking (white). I bought this nuc from Thornes earlier this year and white means 06...

Went to have a look tonight, the bees had eaten most of the fondant but they are now sitting in front of the nuc box, again in a small cluster, on the landing board that I took from them yesterday.

I had a look through my nuc this afternoon and located the queen. There is a small bit of damage to her left wingtip. Is this a concern? She isn't laying yet, but I am worried that this damage could stop her from mating. How long should I leave it until I inspect the nuc again?

Thanks for the replies, however it's a bit late! I've just shook them into a nuc box and put this next to where I found them. There was a queen in there, I just managed to flick he back into the box as she was crawling out of it as I was putting the lid on. They had built a small comb and filled...

Is there any chance that this could be related to a new queen from the colony above it? There were queen cell due to emerge this week. Could the new queen have gone off on a mating flight and missed the entrance back into the hive, thereby landing underneath it instead?

The title of the thread might sound odd.... Here's a picture taken from underneath one of my hives. I coulnd't quite understand why the bees weren't flying to their entrance last night and this morning I took a peek. The origional hive (this one) went queenless about 10 days ago. There were...

Many thanks, email sent.

Does anybody wish to offer their services to a new beek? I would be grateful of help via the internet or perhaps on site if that suits you?

Price for gloves ok, but i was quoted £6.96 for delivery! This seems VERY expensive to me?

I'm on a health & safety course all this week, so I'll try and find time to bring this one up!