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Hi All, This was my first experience of possible Queenlessness so be gentle! When I looked in the hive for first time at the of March there was only a handful of capped brood no eggs, larvae or Queen seen. (She was last years Q had Queened themselves though Q not found) On next...

Hi All. Up until last year, when I finally got super combs drawn and filled (3 supers) my concern had only been how to get the bees to drawn out said comb. Now that I have it, I realise that there is more to it and would appreciate any tricks or tips to improve the quality of the used...

Hi All My goal was to introduce a new Q to a v defensive hive. I had recently found and marked 3 new Qs in nucs , so I believed I would be able to find the Q in defensive hive, dispatch and Re Q.....getting over confident it turns out! I had separated the flying bees from the Q...

Hi All, Today was a red letter day in my beekeeping journey, when I (finally) found and marked my first Queen :) When I did spy her, she was surprisingly large and agile....I had been looking for a smaller, slow graceful mover, no wonder she had eluded me . She and two others, yet to...

Hi All Following on from doing an AS on a hive some days ago...both Parent and Swarm hive doing well , I have two nice Queen cells left. One is marked for staying in the Parent hive. The other I want to use to Re Queen a v defensive colony. Today I divided the defensive colony into two...

Hi All This was my first foray into rendering, I had a years worth of assorted wax. As advised on the forum I got dedicated pots sives etc from a charity shop, no loss of Brownie points! However not sure I read anywhere about the clean up. I rendered in water, pouring result into a...

Hi All, Well it’s happened....my first Queen cells!!....first thing I remembered DON’T PANIC, and get onto the forum, so here I am. They are AMM’s the Queen is from 2017 it is marked and clipped and is present in the colony. The hive is a National on a single BB. Not yet supered. They...

Hi All, Today was my first time collecting some bee samples. The books referred to “sweeping them up into a match box”....Girls not happy with my technique nor willing to hang around in the matchbox while I figured it. On a flash of inspiration I got hold of the Dyson, put on...

Hi All, Last year (first year beekeeping started with two nucs) I let one hive,.well they decided too...draw out and fill a separate brood box with frames of honey. I did this on the basis that the Cushman site said it was good to have frames of drawn brood comb....not fully sure why it is so...

Hi All, On this day a year ago, I collected my first two over wintered nucs. So today is a red letter day having managed to get them this far. I had tried and failed twenty years ago to overwinter a hive, so I now seem to be doing something’s right. With every sting I have learned a...

Hi All, I’m a novice and hope I have just got my first two hives through the winter. However just as they’re getting going I have to take off in a fortnights time, leaving them for 18 days! I know, not the time to go but SWMBO made the arrangements. So, both National hives have...

Hi All, Just finished quick job in a hive and collected two new lessons in beekeeping. Lesson 1. Never continue if your smoker goes out. They were all over me especially around the face hood, however I was nearly finished and of course I had my suit, wellies and gloves on. Lesson 2...

Hi All, I've recently inspected one smallish hive and have another later today. The brood box was packed with honey, had four frames of capped brood , larvae eggs and a Queen. Question: Will the bees naturally break down the honey comb next to the brood nest to adequately provide the...

Hi All I’m nearing the end of a long slow movement of two hives accross the garden. There are two hives, neither very strong last years overwintered nucs, but about equal in strength.Both are (were) busy bringing in pollen and holding their own with weight. However after a move a...

Hi All, I’m still in the honeymoon period with my bees, and remain in awe of them. Yesterday was the first time I’d really appreciated their flying abilities. It was blowing a gale , I’ve no anemometer but from the way the trees were blowing and how gusty it was, I recon 35 to 40...

A Happy New Year to one and all. For 2019 may your frames be full of honey.... but not in the brood nest cause I think that slows things down a bit :paparazzi: Let me see these New Year Resolutions ...i’ll Start... I must spend more time with the bees and less with my..oops got that wrong I...

Ok Guys My girls are pulling in lots of reddish brown pollen... first time I’ve seen this. Could it be from Willows as I have a field of them next door, but I thought pussy willow catkins were yellow and later in the year? Tia Nordicul

Hi All, I'm putting together my Christmas list and would like your input. I have presently Two Modified National hives that started as overwintered Nucs this year (They are both holding their weight and taking down fondant) and a completely empty hive. I have 10 supers in total...

Hi All, Appealing to my voyeuristic nature ( I have my bees....not the neighbours...under 24 hr camera watch) my two hives have polycarbonate crown boards enabling me to peep in on their Winter progress. While there were a lot of posts on the construction of these and on their pros...

Hi All, Watching the bees working a Mahonia shrub in the garden today got me wondering....were they my own bees? I didn't know if Beeks can recognise their bees and if so how? The shrub is about 80 feet from my two hives, in the opposite direction, in a field prob about 500 feet...