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I've had a lot of trouble with wasps on a new apiary in an Orchard attached to a plant nursery. I've come across a couple of products, Wasp Out and Wasp Gate both of which may be an improvement on simply narrowing down the entrance. Has anyone tried either product or any other that they can...

While we took a reasonable spring crop in early June the wet weather has done us no favours. An apiary of 6 hives is going to give us virtually nothing this month. But all the hives have 2 supers virtually full of unripe honey. It'll be long and unrewarding work to spin it off and feed back to...

Last year I sold 340g jars at the garden gate for £6, and £5 to shops and others taking 10 or more jars. Everything is going up. I'm looking at increasing by £1. Are you putting your price up this year, or holding it?

I mentioned this a few years ago but got no interest. A friend lives just off the A120 north of Coggeshall and has a field behind his house in which he'd like to have someone place some hives. It's very private with easy access. Were he nearer I'd be there like a shot. Is anyone interested?

One hive had six supers on. All but the lowest were full, but only the top three fully capped, so we put a clearer board under them on Thursday, and took them off yesterday. The clearer board hadn't worked well, so we had a lot of smoking, shaking and brushing to do. When we came to extract from...

Leeds council has identified the park opposite my home as a potential site for woodland planting. It's proposing a mixture of taller and shrubbier species. I intend to respond to the notification and will suggest trees that are valuable to bees (I'm doing this for the greater good, not...

I recall seeing a mention of having honey analysed, but can't track it down using the search box. I'd love to have the spring honey from a couple of my apiaries analysed. Could someone steer me in the right direction please.

I was given a rose hive in 2020, and worked it last year in accordance with Tim Rowe's method. But I've now realised I've caused myself a problem. I got the hive down to two boxes in the autumn and treated it with Apivar. The hive is busy and I'll shortly be needing to add a third box. But I've...

I've new glass going in my windows today. The lads putting in in have disturbed a colony of honey bees in the eaves that I didn't know was there. Fortunately the bees are not aggressive. When the weather warms up I'll need to get my ladder out and send the (comparatively) young and definitely...

I've just grubbed up a dying hawthorn tree from the front garden and need a small tree to replace it. Not too high, not too wide a canopy and with roots that'll go down rather than break up the drive. The situation is north facing, with sun early morning and late afternoon. I'm thinking malus...

I'll need to speed up my uncapping this year. To date I've been using a fork, but have recently watched a couple of videos on Facebook showing a knife being used. The heated knife was particularly impressive. Is it an extra £100 better than an unseated one?

My bee buddy found this in a local shop, priced at £6.50. Opaque and solid. The label described it as "wild honey". I'd be ashamed to put my label on something looking like that.

I've been browsing extraction equipment and have seen a roller for removing cappings. I've always used an uncapping fork but wonder if the roller is as efficient and quicker. Any thoughts?

One of my apiaries had a field of OSR not far away. The honey has set in the frames. How should I deal with it? Is there a way to extract it, or should I junk it?

What a difference a week or two can make. Two weeks ago, when we were having to time our inspections to avoid the rain, one colony was extremely nasty, boiling up when we inspected, and with half a dozen bees or more following us back to our cars. Two or three other hives also let us know they...

We inspected the three hives at our out apiary two weeks ago. There were charged queen cells in all three. We only had the equipment with us to deal with one, and planned to return in two days time to deal with the other two. The weather then deteriorated and there was never a day when we were...

We found sites for two new apiaries last December, and decided to buy some colonies to start them off as it was too late to develope our own. We ordered four nucs, two from each source. This week both suppliers have told me that because of the cold spring delivery will be at least two weeks...

I'm wanting to expand out of my garden, and have found some private allotments not far away. Can anyone advise if allotments usually ask for rent, or for you to take a plot, or are they are simply happy to have pollinators on site.

If there's anyone with experience of both the old and the new Abelo poly hives, could you let us have the pros and cons of each. I'm going to need a few new hives before next season, and I'm unsure which to go for.

Has anyone tried a rechargeable electronic candle lighter for lighting a smoker? They're supposed to be unaffected by wind, so they might be useful in the great outdoors, if they're any good.