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It's the forshortning of the camera lens. There is room to stand to the side. I started out with langstroth and then inherited national gear when I took over the bees after the death of the farmer. The son hasn't time for the bees. Its been a tough couple of years. Most of the gear was mothed...

I use straps in the winter to stop the wind. I have 30 hives and don't have the time to unstrap on every inspection. In this case they would have tipped the lot in if it was tied together. Besides why should I live my life working to the lowest common denominator. They are in the wrong not me...

I have used hot air gun before. It only works if there is air under the capping. Little discs of wax ping in all directions. It annoys she who must be obeyed. It's banned in my kitchen!

Why? Are they so bored, knocking beehives into streams with apples is their only form of entertainment? Fortunately the brood box didn't go in and the queen is OK. I hope they got stung but I let the grandkids open this lot. Wouldn't say boo to a goose.

Mine brought in loads of nectar from the apples and have been eating their way through it ever since.

Willow for early pollon, Lime, sweet chestnut, horse chestnut, linden, acacia are all excellent pollon and nectar providers. All however take a while to mature. Fruit trees give more instant results.

Over wintering wooden nucs outside is a no no for me unless they are in a shed flying outside via a tube. Poly nucs however work great. Just pay more attention to food levels as there is obviously less room for stores

The 3 frames in an apidea can be wired to a frame top bar and placed in a nuc. I give them drawn frames and usually bolster numbers with a slab of brood from a doner hive.

Also never leave eggs with the AS queen. I have had them draw a queen cell and still swarm!

If you can not find the queen when doing a AS set up the new brood box on original site and shake/ brush all bees into it. Place queen excluder then brood box with all the original frames on top. Leave for an hour or so. Nurse bees will return upstairs and queen will be in lower box with flying...

I hope this will work. I have extracted bees with a chainsaw from trees and it gets very messy no matter how careful you are. I have done one way cone extractions that bleeds off adult workers from buildings but you have to provide eggs for a new queen as she never seems to leave the nest. Once...

So I made a board to convert tree to national. Brood box with some drawn comb and a super with drawn comb and some honey. Bees where already in the boxes when I put the lid on. Hopefully Queen will migrate upward and lay in nice new wax. Once she is up there I can use a queen excluder to keep...

Can see bees top and bottom

It weighs about 100kg. Nearly broke me getting it in and out the van. The entrance hole is near the bottom so could coax them up but I like the idea of them moving up on their own

Got a call from a local school who had felled a large pine tree. It contained a wild nest which I have cut out as a 4 foot log that contains comb top to bottom. They seem of good temper and a large colony. My question is what next? Do I break it open and transfer, tieing into brood frames as in...

Put candy on every single hive. Stores have been used at an alarming rate. Still have large colony's with brood present. Gonna have to feed a couple more times befor6 spring. Couple of other beeks local to me in same situation. Never been caught out like this before with my autumn feeding...

Hes using langstroth with its lack of grooves so Hoffman's can be built wrong. I build mine the same as a national. Right side flat towards you when held by the lugs

I love the cathedrals they build from wax cappings

Worse is the beekeeper who throws 4 supers on in march and takes them off in august. 2 visits a year and the rest of us have to deal with the swarms and efb in the area. That's not abandoned just reckless.

I run langstroth and national. langstroth winter on brood box. Nationals on brood and half. Half always on top all year. I refer to it as the pantry. I take the Qex out end of October and put it back on first inspection in march. I never extract from it, it belongs to the bees so I never worry...