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  1. R

    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Try the Median wasp - Dolichovespula media. This species varies in colour and can be almost totaly black. It is also quite large.
  2. R

    Hornet

    The venom of a Hornet is no more toxic than that of a honeybee or wasp to a normal healthy person. There are however have different constituants of the venom which exites nerves more and therefore is much more painfull. In the nornal course of events Hornets are not dangerous, but like bees and...
  3. R

    Trifids

    Although sweetcorn/maize is wind pollenated , I have seen bees collecting pollen from sweetcorn in large quantities in late summer.
  4. R

    Hawaiian Carniolans

    Due to the finding of Small Hive Beetle in Hawaii this year, the importation of Queen bees has been banned. I have had New Zealand Carniolan Queens from Peter Kemble this year, they are docile and have done very well and have lower Varroa levels than average.
  5. R

    Pale Lemon Colour Honey

    Are there any fields of Sunflowers in the vacinity.
  6. R

    Ladybirds at my hive

    Harlequin Ladybirds do congregate in houses in various places including the folds of curtains and other nooks and crannies around windows open for ventilation purposes. The best way to get rid of them,e.g. in a bedroom, is to use a vacum cleaner. They may make the bag smell, but this can be...
  7. R

    Ladybirds at my hive

    Almost certainly the Harlequin Ladybird, which likes to congregate in numbers for overwintering. If disturbed they will emit a pungent odour which can be quite clinging. These Ladybirds are very variable in their colouring and spots, but they are all similar size as our common 7-spot...
  8. R

    pupal expulsion (cross posted)

    Deformed Wing Virus - spead by Varroa.
  9. R

    did I do the right thing ?

    The European Hornet is a feared insect. Apocryphal stories of " 3 stings killing a horse" or " one sting will kill a baby" are not based on fact. They are in fact gentle giants. They were pushed to the edge of extinction in England by man's persecution but managed to maintain a toehold in the...
  10. R

    The Thing.

    Could be a Volucella sp. of Hover Fly which lives as a scavenger of bee and wasp nests feeding on dead or dying insects and other debris.
  11. R

    Who can give me some places to buy a good queen from

    Peter Kemble of KBS,Westfield East Sussex has very good tempered,productive, UK raised Queen bees. Carniolan Queens from Bickerstaffs have been very good too.
  12. R

    Black Wasps

    The dark wasp is the Median Wasp - Dolichovespula media. A relatively new species to the UK but established for a few years in the South East. It is larger than the Common Wasp but much less agressive. Its nests are quite large, but is mostly insulation as numbers in the colony do no correspond...
  13. R

    Do bees like sweetcorn?

    Bramble/Bkackberry has a grey pollen. Plenty in flower at the moment.
  14. R

    Do bees like sweetcorn?

    Although Sweet corn is wind pollenated, pollen is produced in such quantities that bees do find it atractive. I have seen bees collecting pollen from late varieties of Sweetcorn in August and September. Maybe this is at a time when other sources of pollen are few as it is generally too early...
  15. R

    Picked up a swarm today

    Looks like Lonicera nitida or pileata.
  16. R

    tree/flower identification please

    Possibly a Sorbus sp. Same family, Roseacae, as Hawthorn and indeed Cotoneaster,Malus and Pyrus,
  17. R

    What is it?

    Looks like Cotoneaster horizontalis. A favourite nectar source for Queen wasps,amongst other things.
  18. R

    Advice needed

    I would suspect the bees are getting water condensate from the pipe.
  19. R

    Agressive bees

    Please do not put up with "grumpy" bees. They have been responsible for more people giving up beekeeping than anything else. If a dog bites, it is put down and not bred from, but with bees the reverse holds true as owners make excuses or they are left alone and their stingy genes remain in the...
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