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Thanks for the further replies - all are appreciated especially your kind words Enrico. Bontbee - I fear that mine would be as lazy as yours and having discussed with SWANC (She Who Atleast Needs Consulting) we (me) are going to move the bees into the far corner which involves a 30' lateral...

Hi RAB Thanks for your feedback. Not sure when your refer to 'the OP' you mean me personally or that this a is trait of posters generally. Possibly I am guilty of seeking confirmation of my prejudices but what I was hoping for was an idea if any of the suggested notions was pointless. The...

Thanks Enrico Sorry to be dense but do you mean during the day - or as long as it is warm enough for them to fly each day and re-orientate. I had thought to do it overnight when they were all tucked up.

Thanks all for the advice I will go for the options a) to e) in that order as there seems little to be lost in trying them one at a time. How much can I rotate them at a time? Midland Beek. I did go double brood early last week - moving two frames up into the top box and closing the rest up...

Hi all Question about guard bees and flight paths and garden usage. I have been buzzed a few times digging the garden around 10 yards away from the bees and stung a couple of times - didn't hurt as much as I would have thought so maybe I didn't get the full load but there was a stinger on (not...

Thanks all - that is very reassuring - I have a nucleus hive I've made ready for doing an old queen nucleus for when the need arises - it may be this weekend!! Previously when I have scraped off odd bits of comb etc., at the branch apiary it has been wax and propolis and this has been...

Hi all - slightly panicky post so apologies for that I had my first look in my hive yesterday evening. It was heaving. Bees all over the two supers that are on it and what looked like 9 seams of bees in the brood box. I took the central two frames out and put them in another brood box ...

Thanks all and Cazza for that reassurance. Will leave till Friday and hopfully better weather

Hi - they were inspected by the RBI a while before they were moved and pronounced ok. And the chap selling was introduced via my branch but his personal circumstance were not good - he is getting on and his Mrs is seriously ill. So I have taken them sight unseen which is far from ideal but is...

Hi all My bees arrived on Friday - full colony in a national hive. Acquired from an elderly gentlemen very much of the don't look if you don't need to mindset. He had looked(briefly I suspect) when he had prepared them to move them over to my place and advised me to move to double brood. I...

Thanks Itma for that clarification :)

Could I ask for a quick bit of clarification ?(venturing out of the beginners section ) RAB refers to stocks and colonies in his earlier post. What is a stock in this context? I 've seen the term before and didn't understand it then - an American site used it to mean a strain of bees but...

Thanks Itma and Tom for your, as always, helpful answers. I have a th*rnes sale standard national (empty )stood out in the garden airing after applying some clear cuprinol so bottom beespace it is and qx with the frame below. I'll turn it over next time I'm passing! Just finished making a...

Daft question time .... So which way up does a wired queen excluder(qx) go? I have been assuming wires at the bottom to emulate flat plastic qx that I have seen but Itma's reply above seems to suggest the other way up ie wires at the top.

Thanks all for taking the trouble to reply -some good ideas and links there ! That's Saturday afternoon sorted!

Hi all My new brood box( +roof, crown board and OMF) has arrived from Th*rnes, purchased in the sale and it looks fine. T's have provided nails but no instructions but there is plenty of stuff around here and elsewhere on how to put it together. Personally I had thought of screwing and...

just bought one of the £13.50 ones from th*rnes and while freely admitting I know two fifths of sweet b. all about it, I must say it doesn't seem very robust. I had a practise with ssome home rolled cardboard - went nicely, plenty of smoke. Put a small cork in it and left it. Two hours later...

Just wondering, what effect does the pine oil have? (and how much do you add?)

Some very helpful ideas and suggestions. So the plan is - Stick with the National hive format (at least for the time being) Not worry about expanding too rapidly Build a Nuc - "for fun" and for use later Don't worry about me spending too much money Beeno - I'm from Yorkshire me! Thanks all...

Hi A couple of related questions I could use some help with! I hope to get my first colony this spring and as it will be an established colony, I would hope to be able to increase from it - to get to what many consider the minimum of two colonies. Reading around the topic it seems that you...