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I would only worry if they were getting past the guard bees but I have never had that happen yet. It's great to watch a colony overpower a wasp at the entrance, the bees really give it to them. After a good 15mins the wasp is dropped dead onto the floor.

I have heard you can put frames in freezer then knock the pollen out when its frozen into lumps...……. Absolutely no idea if it works though.

Shook swarm seems to be the fashion at the moment. I took ownership of 5 colonies last year that looked like they hadn't had new foundation for about 5 years. I had to crowbar some of the frames out and the comb was jet black. One had a dummy board with woodworm they were so old. What I did...

That may be true given a choice as bees are very selective and will often forage from a single source. But if there is only one source then they will be just as happy to forage from that if they need it. They will take a bag of sugar soaked in water if they need it but I am sure they would...

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If they want it they take it, if not they leave it. I find they use food depending on their requirements not the taste.

Must be how your bees get so much honey, they are robbers not foragers :reddevil:

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I must admit, this year is a real eye opener. To see the true potential of bees that are restrained by our local climate most years is quite something. Don't get me wrong, my 2016 queens are still here because of careful management I have learnt to do, they would be long gone every year if I...

It's a very fair point and quite true, BUT, I have 5 colonies with 2016 queens going forward. It will be interesting to see if any or all get superceded later, become drone layers or if I get any into a 4th season. Yes I should requeen with younger queens but they are still laying really well...

Upturned roof for me, young bees that fall off the comb land in the roof not in the grass and can just be shook back onto the top of the frames.

Thank you Nigel, I am as certain as you can be that I didn't, that's why I was so confused. On the other hand the colony is now acting quite strange, they are showing signs of being robbed and I am sure there are bees of a slightly different colour trying to gain entry. The guard bees are...

Is he going to put sheep in the field and let them eat it because there is no grass due to the hot summer...? Farmers up here do something similar this time of year but with a type of beet, it never gets chance to flower though.

last years queen may build up very fast before winter so could require more equipment than just a nuc. She could also get superceded later this year and then you still won't know the daughters temperament. last years queen is almost guaranteed to swarm May / June next year. This summers queen...

I had to remove 3 lovely full and capped brood frames 2 days ago from one of my garden colonies. They have had space in the supers but just won't move it. I even tried a top entrance for 4 weeks and they just ignored it completely. They managed to fill 2 supers so I extracted those and the brood...

Thank you all for your replies. Flight occurred at 13.50pm, temp was 24C and no wind. All returned to normal after about 30mins, bees were only flying at head height also. Hive calm and quiet today. Cheers, Mick.

This is exactly what happened so maybe it was the mating flight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11fqxVLctNo

I bought some Abelo poly hives in April and I love them. Hard plastic frame runners and top and bottom edges are great, propolis scrapes clean off. The crown board has 5 circular vents and in the heat this last few weeks I thought I would remove 3 as the bees were fanning quite strongly at the...

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