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Totally agree. If I'm in any doubt, then I'd rather feed some damp-set sugar than sugar syrup. If they don't need it, they won't take it - then you can pull the container at a later date and make what's left into syrup. Less risk of giving the bees a syrup bath that way (if you use inverted...

They can be a very convenient place to hold union meetings ... LJ

I think the problem lies there ... Imo, it's often not appropriate to follow the practices of others. By all means listen to what other do and say - but then each beekeeper has to figure out for themselves what size boxes and what procedures work best - for them, their bees, and in their...

Yes, they're fertile - but whether they are 'as good' as regular-sized drones is still something to be determined. Very little drone-based research has thus far been done. Here's an extract from one summary which reveals the sort of puzzle being faced: LJ

Sure - a very fair comment. And compared with 'proper' cast-iron bed table saws, these hobby units are toys - but - for knocking out a few bee boxes on a casual basis, quite good enough. You may have noticed that I wasn't furious, or even annoyed - which is my usual intolerant response to...

Don't know yet about the blocks - this will be my first year playing with them. In general, I've never really developed any 'plans' for managing Long Hives - I just 'wing it' according to what I find during inspections. I've noticed that some colonies seem to organise themselves much better...

Yesterday I found myself cutting an insane quantity of 11mm wide battens from 22mm thick pallet planks - so that a single pass over a table router set at 10mm will provide the wood from which to make some foundationless 14x12 frames, smooth on the outside but with a rough(ish) surface on the...

Thanks - but for me everything has to be 'engineered' - it's about coming from that background - can't seem to shake it off ... No - entrances in the ends. What looks like an entrance is in fact a strip OMF (painted black). It used to run along the centre of the floor, but I moved it across...

Now that is a very interesting observation, 'cause the bees in question (at my end) are Carnie-Buckfast crosses, and those of my friend on the South Coast are Carnie-mongrels ... but which have been exposed to Buckfast genes at some time in their history - so yes, it could well be that. I had...

Fascinating, fun - great words. Sometimes I think people forget the 'fun' element, the 'curiosity' element of beekeeping. :) Thinks - if I was 'the bee in charge', then I'd set up a traffic flow system: IN at the bottom; OUT at the top ... :) LJ

Do bees like bigger combs ? In my experience, yes. I noticed a step-change improvement when I converted a KTBH into a Dual Deep (14x12) Long Hive. Prior to that chance event I wasn't particularly sold on 14x12, as I thought that generations of beekeepers must be right in their choice of a...

Good - somebody's catching on ... that's why they are of small diameter! With both wasps and robbing in mind. Most of my full-sized hives have 4x 22mm circular hole entrances, although for much of the year they run with just 2 open. All nucs have 2x 22mm dia holes. If you 'run the numbers'...

But nobody's talking about 'real beekeeping' - only experimentation. LJ

1. Claims of a 'preference' being made, when no data has been included of cavities observed that the bees did NOT inhabit. (i.e. chose not to inhabit) 2. In nest box selection experiment - bees actually preferred to set-up home in a chimney, rather than the experimental bait boxes. This event...

I'd had the same thought - and if I still had my Warre hives, then yes - that's exactly what I'd have done - but without any top bars or starter strips. But - those boxes have since been converted into 8-frame Nationals. Perhaps someone else could take-up this idea ? When I stopped using the...

Considering no-one's ever done this before (afaik) - there's a lot of 'experts' on here telling me what's wrong with this set-up. Some of you seem to think that I've just lashed this together without any thought, and without using my existing hive entrances as a barometer with which to judge...

Indeed - that, of course, is the whole point of the experiment - I'm hoping they will do just that, but suspect they will modify the first comb in (running 'warm way') to act as a baffle instead, as I've seen bees do something similar before, over a strip OMF. I thought long and hard about the...

Just noticed - we don't seem to have a sub-forum for experimentation - so I guess this is the nearest appropriate place. Trust mods will move it if not ... This is one of several 'back-of-a-***-packet' experiments I'll be running during the coming season. This one is intended to indicate...

Saw the first (giant-sized) Bumble of the season, and a couple of rather noisy drones - over-wintered ones, no doubt (unless something VERY odd is going on). Dunno how those guys managed to avoid eviction last year ... ? LJ

Soil-warming type cables would be a good choice - I still have several tens of metres of them left over from my days in industry. 15w/metre ex RS. Very versatile. If you wrap them around the tank(*) there shouldn't be any hot-spots if the tank is S/S, as that metal will spread the warmth around...