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I usually use Hoffman frames (BSN) and place 11 or 12 frames in the super. Having done some reading on here I’m thinking this year of using 10 and allowing the girls to draw out wider comb. If I start off with undrawn SN1 frames do I use wide or narrow spacers? If I use narrow to keep the bee...

I have been reliably informed that the sea of yellow opposite my hives is not OSR but Bargeman’s cabbage. I’ve never heard of the latter and wondering if anyone on here knows anything about it? If it is BC it looks incredibly similar to OSR and the bees love it, but does it have the same...

Greetings everyone, I’ve had real bad luck in my first three years of bee keeping; lost two hives to CBPV and then my third hive had a drone laying queen. I’m now in my fourth year and hoping to have better luck and as such have three reasonably viable hives in the following states: Hive 1 - Nuc...

One of my hives seemed low in activity recently so I did an inspection today and found there was only sealed drone brood and then I came across a fully formed (supersede) Queen cell with a grub inside and the cell was very close to sealing. There were much fewer bees than there should be and no...

Has anyone got any idea what one of my bees was up to do today. I was watching her on the landing board and she wasn’t doing a waggle dance but something else I haven’t seen. She was walking up and down and constantly stopping, pointing her abdomen skywards and then rotating it in slow circles...

Hi, following lots of opinions and comments on my question about the Ladies Sentinel bee suit, I’ve decided to go ahead and order one. My next question is now, with a hat or veil? I’m used to just using a veil but as I’ve got the choice for this suit I just wondered what people’s preferences...

Having recently had a massive localised reaction to a sting on my wrist🤦🏼‍♀️ (I was digging in the veg patch when the little blighter crawled up my sleeve!), my GP has advised me to very careful around my hives. He initially suggested I might want to reconsider bee keeping but I think the look...

Hi, looks the wasps have been busy! I left my bees with a super packed with stores and was treating them with Apiguard. I’ve left them with many wasp traps and whilst the wasps were very busy this year the hive has looked ok. I’ve just been in to do an inspection and all the stores are gone ( in...

Hi, is it me or is there a shortage of Apiguard? I’ve finally managed to find a place with some in stock but most places are sold out with re-stock at the end of August. Is it a bad year for varroa or are there loads more beeks treating?🤷‍♀️

Hi, my nuc has now been in their new National for four weeks. Looking today I now have 4 frames of sealed/ unsealed brood and 4 frames of stores (heavy too). They have 3 frames left that they are now drawing out, 1 is started to be filled with stores and the other 2 are just wax at the mo. I’m...

Hi, I’m a very new keeper! I spend most of my time standing by hive looking confused😄. Two weeks ago I put a five frame nuc into my hive. The farm I bought them from said to start feeding them a 1:1 syrup. I’ve been doing this via a rapid feeder and they are eating about 2lts every four days. My...