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So I've just seen one of our neighbours cats waiting outside our hives. As it's incredibly mild there's the odd bee put on cleansing flights. Pesky mog seems to be waiting for them to leave and then pounces on them. It's pretty entertaining to watch, I'm just waiting for them to get their...

We tried a test frame a month or so ago. They made QCs but with the weather since then being terrible it looks like the queen was caught out whilst mating. There's been no brood for over a month now and we're worried we'll soon end up with drone laying workers. Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

A hive has gone queenless and we need a replacement queen. Not too bothered about her being a thoroughbred but good non-swarmy stock would be nice. Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the advice, we'll be combining them today! Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

I've been reading up on combining hives as we have several caught swarms that we'd like to merge with our stronger colonies. I'm comfortable with the newspaper method and will be trying it out this weekend, weather permitting. However, our stronger colonies have supers on. Should the weaker...

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback. We need to swap the boxes but I'm waiting for another pair of hands as it's a bit bulky for one person to move at the moment. Neither of the hives had much in the way of stores but plenty of brood. Would it be worth feeding them, or could that make them...

Sun stayed out so we had an inspection. The short hive towards the back of the photo had around 15 sealed and charged QCs. I imagine they would have swarmed sooner had the weather not been so bad. Anyway, found the queen and popped her in a nuc with a couple of frames of brood. Left 4 QCs...

Bait hive is already on the garage roof. Feels like a last ditch attempt but I suppose it's better than nothing. Thanks for the help. Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Following several weeks of wet and cold the weather has just taken a turn for the better. At the last inspection that I was able to do, I saw play cups but no queen cells. Now, with a bit of sunshine there is a huge surge in activity. There are a lot of bees on the faces of the hives. I...

Isn't that essentially what a Bailey comb change is? Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

Regarding Hive B and the varroa/DWV issue, is there anything we can do at this time of the year?

I've tried this before (was planning to switch to 14x12 last year) and the mess that it made during inspection with several inches of drawn comb below the frames immediately changed my mind. Once the damp hive has been sterilised and patched up as required we plan to use it for a new colony...

The roof is in good shape (if anything, it's in better shape than Hive B) and the boxes appear to be in good shape. I think I'll start getting the 14x12 frames ready over the next few weeks and will keep monitoring it until it's warmed up enough to do the Bailey transfer on to the larger...

We were thinking of moving them to 14x12 so that would allow us to fix up the old brood box. It might take a bit longer but we don't have a spare BB at the moment. Thanks for the suggestion. Both hives have open mesh floors.

We've just done our first full inspection of our two hives and have found a couple of issues. Hive A: This hive had a lot of bees and was the stronger going into winter. However, the inside of the hive was very damp with a lot of slugs and woodlice. There was minimal mould but it was very damp...

Thanks for the replies, sounds simple when you know how! I'll be giving this a go in a few months. Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

I'm hoping to expand one of my hives to 14x12 this season but am left scratching my head as to how I can do this. If I were to move a few frames over, as with a normal split, they would surely end up building several inches of fragile brace comb under those frames. Is there any way to avoid...

Thanks everyone, panic over!

So, I think I've made a mistake and am not sure whether to put it right or just leave it. I'd heard about people nadiring a super on their hive over winter and misunderstood this to mean that the full shallow should be moved from the top of the hive to the bottom. I did this in late October and...

Would do but, the hive with the original queen swarmed as well so we're leaving that alone to give the queen time to get mated. No eggs available at the moment! Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk