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insulate whatever you extract in. my 70 liter tank extracts the wax in about half the time when insulated with hot water tank jacket wrapped around it. lots of the heat is lost when steam extracting with bare metal vessel, not wonder people think its expensive

not an exact observation, so shouldn't be taken as an absolute certainty that brood rearing is on-going. Its taught buy some that pollen collection = brood rearing, and therefore there's a common comment from newer beekeepers that 'I must have a queen in the hive as they are bringing in...

bringing in pollen does not indicate that there is brood raising going on. There might be, there also might not be. Just means that the foragers have found pollen to store. Another myth.

Must be living in a cold microclimate. Not forecast to get above 12 until next Saturday. I haven't completed a full inspection yet. The few occasions its been warm enough I've been working or unavailable. Checked on a few frames and put full nucs into brood boxes, but most inspections are just...

Bees will forage at 11/12C, just that the OSR doesn't produce much if any nectar at that temperature. Tends towards a sliding scale of nectar production with an increase in temperature. If it ever gets warm enough this spring whilst the OSR is in flower, the flow of nectar is impressive.

what ever happened to the analysis that was supposed to be published on the self sustaining wild Blenheim Forest bees?

There is no provenance with a swarm or the hive that it came from in the scenario being described here as it currently stands. There maybe but there is no proof of continual in habitation and frankly unlikely with other beekeepers in the area.

That's irrelevant to the practice I brought up. It was / is part of a simple sensible disease control plan from a commercial beekeeper trying to avoid a standstill or destruction notice in a hot spot area. I too use it as a guide, and some frames don't go into circulation on the year they are...

Harvest any honey once the OSR has finished, then put in new frames in with thin foundation and await a flow. I tend to put a whole box on a hive and then juggle frames and spacing around to try and get uniform capped frames. Aim is to get cut sections that are of a fairly consistent weight...

IIRC @Into the lions den discussed a five year rotation of brood frames as part of a disease prevention plan for foul broods some years ago. Frames had a year stamp, so could be pulled and the wax melted out before being rewired. Good advice for anyone in an area with recurrent foul brood .

advert is not clear but this looks like a 14x12 box, aimed at national frames, that can be used for 14x12 as well - 'suitable for deep brood as well'. If it is a 14x12 box, then it will make no difference on ideal volume, which is somewhat flexible anyway. If using national frames then would...

And I think that sums up many peoples issues with dowsing and other activities where there is no understanding of mechanism of action. What is success? Without knowing all the potential targets and the identify how many are actually identified, no one can ascertain that the success identified...

whilst we are on the subject, I thought this quote apt. :LOL: 'Homeopathic dilutions' and 'Memory of Water' are two expressions capable of turning a peaceful and intelligent person into a violently irrational one,'

https://theapiarist.org/bait-hive-guide/ good summary here, and references Tom Seeley's Honeybee Democracy, which goes into the mechanics of the swarm procedure, but a bit heavy Good luck!

Yes but bees have only had humans interfering by putting them in a box for 150 years or so, a tiny fraction of their existence. what you describe isn't beekeeping (to the majority of people) - there is no need for any human involvement if one provides a container of any sort and lets them get...

It will yield some nectar at low temperatures, but needs over 15C to start a half decent flow - its not an off/on thing Plenty of pollen coming in, but limited nectar from mine next to OSR when I checked at the weekend. Supered hives had some in, but not a great deal Anything over 20C and...

Please enlighten us more

too cold to get a decent flow on at the moment

I don't keep bees at home, but usually have 2-3 swarms a year in bait hives I put on a platform 8ft high in an apples tree in the garden. all apiaries (5) have at least one bait hive and generally get a swarm or two each year. Some are my losses, but the evidence suggest most are not. Worth...

If a male only beekeeping group was formed, would that be accused of being sexist? bringing in gender to the equation just encourages extremists to get involved. Surely it would be better to aim for a gentle, supportive, non critical group for anyone and just exclude anyone who broke those...