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Following advice picked up from here, last year I overwintered my two colonies with Solid Floor 14x12 brood box Solid crown board (and no matchsticks!) I made a 5 sided celotex bonnet covered with a waterproof plastic skin which I placed over the hive, it came down close to the bottom of the...

I've moved across to 14x12 this year. Although the bees are gradually filling the supers with stores they are preferring to fill in cells with available stores in the brood chamber first. I've put some dummy boards in and am removing frames not in use for brood they are having me over by part...

First inspection of season 3rd April Second inspection 17th April I inspected one of my colonies on 3rd April. There were fewer bees than in the adjacent hive but all seemed well. There was some BIAS - 2 circles of about 5 inch diameter on two frames. There was plenty of empty drawn foundation...

I have invested in a OA vaporiser and impressed with how quick and easy it is to use. I have downloaded the instructions from Varrox which suggest 1 treatment of 1mg is sufficient for a hive with a single brood box. However I have also read a number of accounts (anecdotal not scientific) from...

I have a 5-sided celotex bonnet covering most of my hive. It comes down almost to the floor on all sides I usually put wire netting over the hives at this time of year as protection against green woodpeckers. They are pretty active around here and make a big mess of a cedar brood box Have others...

Recently a BKA close to me did a session for members of vaporising oxalic acid. The demonstrator took a 2 foot piece of 15mm copper pipe which had a 90 degree bend in it. Open at one end with a stop valve at the other. He put a measured amount of OA into the pipe and then sealed the closed...

I have always moved hives in the back of my car, set the box so the frames hang north/south and driving slowly the car suspension gives a fairly gentle ride. I have recently bought a car trailer and am intending to use that to transport the hives next spring - to take them onto the osr or into...

Does anyone double wall their hives for the winter I have insulation above the crown boards but I was thinking about building a wooden cover for the hives. It would have solid wood front, sides, back and roof with a slot cut close to the hive entrance for the bees to leave and re-enter It would...

During the last week of June one of my colonies swarmed. As there was no eggs/brood 4 weeks later I moved a frame with BIAS including 1 day old eggs, in from another colony 14 days later and I have the following No brood/eggs anywhere in the colony. No sign of laying worker, i.e. no cells with...

I quite like the concept of a long deep hive, being able to give the colony more space by moving a dummy board sideways thereby creating a larger area horizontally rather than by adding supers and increasing vertically. However I am unsure how they work. Do you separate out the broood area and...

I want to merge a small nuc (recently transferred into a national) and a queenless colony which are currently 20 feet apart in the same apiary but am conscious of the 3ft/3miles rules I have thought about moving the Q- away for a week or two and then bring it back once the flight paths have...

I have Taken my 25lb bucket of solid, mainly rape honey. Heated it to 42c for 48 hours and it became clear and runny, filtered through a metal strainer. Allowed to cool Put 5lb of seed into the warmer for 2 days at 42c until that too became runny, allowed to cool Mixed both together stirring 6...

I had to move four colonies each with 1 or more supers on yesterday so the pickers can get to the fruit trees around the apiary undisturbed The temporary apiary I found involves a carry from the car of about 200yds across fairly uneven ground I started trying with a sack barrow but the hives...

I'm planning to extract a couple of supers this weekend. The honey is likely to be a mixture of kentish cob (think hazel but nicer nuts!) cherry and other top fruit and OSR. This invariably sets hard after a couple of months in the jar I am planning to soft set it and have warming cabinet and...

I opened up a small colony on Saturday and found that there were just a few patches of brood and there was clearly something wrong with it. A few sealed worker/drone cells but most of the brood seems to have died off within a few days of their egg hatching. The larvae in most cases has started...

I have a colony which was on a brood and a half, I would like to move them onto 14x12 so On Sat 25/5 I put a 14x12 on with new foundation Set up roof 14x12 - new foundation BB - bias and some stores. Q+ Shallow - bias and some stores OMF The colony are on the edge of a cherry orchard adjacent...

I have a hive which is well and truly glued down with propolis. It has 11 brood frames in a National with a super (nadir) underneath. Regrettably I did not have a dummy board in there. When I tried last week to prise out a brood frame out, the bottom of the frame was stuck fast and the top...

I have been asked to cut-out a colony which has been inhabiting a portacabin roof for the last couple of years. I am thinking that around 11 April would be a good time because the colony will be small but expanding and the outside temperatures will be slightly warmer than now. Also there will...

Where is the best place to buy labels from? I'm only buying a couple of hundred at a time so price is not really an issue Are there any suppliers to avoid - eg poor quality print or glue which makes used labels a nightmare to remove making it difficulty to re-use jars