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Update! So far, so good! I made up a nuc with a frame of capped brood, nurse bees and food plus 2 drawn frames. Unfortunately, I had already done this before I read I could have used bees from more than 1 colony. I was amazed to hear that you can mix bees from 2 or 3 colonies without fighting. I...

Yes, i panicked when I thought 3 of 5 colonies were going into winter queen less! I saw that Northumberland Bees suddenly had 3 mated back bees so I bought one whilst I could, as everyone else seemed to be selling Buckfast or other nonnative types. Yesterday afternoon I discovered eggs in one...

Thanks for the advice. I cannot find the queen, nor any eggs or larvae. There is some older brood but I'm going to have another look for eggs before introducing the new queen. I last saw a queen when I was doing a sugar roll before using Formic Pro and taking off the supers. If I make up a nuc...

Thank you for your answers. I am a bit nervous because this is my 3rd try at introducing a mated queen (over a couple of years) I did follow instructions but the bees didn't accept the queen. I tried introducing a virgin and it was very successful, but when I introduced a Buckfast virgin, they...

My mated native black bee has just arrived but the weather has turned drizzly and cool here. Would it be alright if I kept her in the airing cupboard til tomorrow when it says it will be better weather? I've given the queen and attendants a drink and put them somewhere quiet for now.

Thanks a lot! I'm planning to do it on Wednesday as it is forecast to be a bit warmer and drier here.

Could I just check if it is safe for the bees for me to use vaping (as opposed to trickling) at this time of the year? If so, would I use the same amount of OA as at earlier times of the year? This is the first year I have switched to vaping and it was very successful because of the advice I...

Thanks for your advice. I have read the pages you suggest but I am still uncertain that I have the correct filters. Do I need 2 types of filters? I seem to have the correct gas filter 6059 ABEK1 as far as I can understand, but I haven't got a particulate filter. Do I need one, and can I fit it...

Thanks for answering the question of dosage and how to measure accurately. I've just ordered one! Is it the same dosage if you are using Apibioxil as opposed to OA? I also have a question about filters. My mask is 3M 6100 and I ordered 6059 filters for gases. Do I need any other filters in...

Thank you very much for the detailed descriptions of how to vape. I had no idea how to do it and when. I presume the temperature isn't important as with Apiguard, as people seem to vape in winter. If I were to start now, as I understand it, I would need to do 3 treatments at intervals of 5 days...

One of my colonies produces copious amounts of propolis. When I went to add the the second Apiguard ,after 2 weeks, I found they had totally covered the entire tray and contents with a thick layer of propolis! I tried to scrape it off and introduced the second tray, but 2 weeks later they had...

Thank you JBM for your advice. I will not put a feeder on the nuc as advised, but I am still determined to use the fancy cage, because I tried using the cage she came in twice, and both times she was killed/disappeared. It could have been because the bees were defensive, which was why I was...

I am expecting a queen on Friday, which I ordered 6 weeks ago for a queenless colony, which has now miraculously requeened itself in the meantime! I have not had much luck with bought queens in the past, so I am determined to get it right this time. I want to introduce the queen to a small nuc...

Update on the possibility of laying workers. I put a frame with some eggs on both sides in the brood box on 14th May and the bees became very excited and covered the frame straight away, so I was hopeful. However, today I inspected it and found no queen cells had been drawn at all. I searched...

Thanks Antipodes. No, I didn't put any brood frames above the excluder. I've just checked the date I removed the queen. It was April 9th and I reduced the q cells to one on April 15th. Any drone brood layed by the former queen should have hatched out by now.

Thanks for answering my questions James. I agree that perhaps there is a virgin hiding, or could have been on a mating flight. However, I still cannot understand why there should be at least 4 super frames covered with capped drone brood. They must have been put there after I removed the queen...

About 1 month ago I put the queen in a nuc because I wanted to perform a pre-emptive split for swarm control. There were drones present and the hive was very full, with 2 supers. The queen is good and I hoped the bees would make a replacement for her. After 4 days I removed all Q cells but one...

I've just removed the entrance completely and the varroa monitoring board and made a cardboard shade for the front.There is an empty super over the Apiguard instead of an eke. I will keep my eye on them over the next few days.

I have put Apiguard on a smallish colony I acquired (6 full frames of brood) because I was told they were a swarm and had not been treated for varroa. Now I am worried it could be dangerous for them because it could reach 40 degrees. Should I remove it? I don't want anything to happen to them as...

I'm considering doing this but the queenless colony has been without a queen for at least 3 or 4 weeks. (they failed to create a new queen from a capped cell) Is it too late to unite them.? Also, they have been busy making honey and now have 5 supers! Should I reduce the number of supers before...