Search results

Perhaps, I will just have to be patient and see what happens. There are so many bees in the hive though, that somebody was laying until relatively recently although I know winter bees live for a lot longer. Thank you for your reply.

Thank you very much. I will do that.

No I didn't. There was some sealed drone brood, so this queen could perhaps be failing - or else this is her successor and maybe the hive will turn itself around on its own. I'm just not sure whether or not my diagnosis is correct.

I would welcome opinions on this: I checked my two hives for the first time yesterday. One is full of healthy looking bees, eggs, larvae, nectar, pollen, drones. The other is also full of bees which are very active bringing in pollen and nectar, but there is very little brood. The marked...

Thank you, I will do that.

I have four colonies at the moment, which all come from my neighbour who has some very gentle bees who have lived in the thatched porch of his house for many years. He and I are at the same stage of inexperience in that this is our fourth summer of trying beekeeping and of course we still have a...

Well the lefthand photo is like my rapid feeder and I am familiar with the practice of not topping it up too quickly so that the bees can move up and out of the way. In this case though I put a full feeder on, the bees started to pile in and feed, and when I checked again a few hours later they...

I am trying to start a new thread so apologies if I have out of ignorance accidentally hijacked someone else's. My bees keep getting jammed in the base of the cup of my rapid feeder and drowning, leaving the others above them unable to get at the syrup. They seem very very hungry and have used...

Yes I thought I would tomorrow, forecast better. And I will switch to 5 day inspections instead of 7 days. Thank you very much for your advice.

Yes I was wondering whether to do that (have not done one before), my main problem is locating the queen. I used to spot her every time in my first couple of years beekeeping but for whatever reason I don't find it easy to spot her at the moment. There are eggs so I assume she is there, I just...

Thank you for both replies, maybe I should be doing it every five days as well. My mentor said 7 but if 5 is better then perhaps I should try that.

Hi, looking for advice from all you experts; this is my third year of beekeeping so I have a lot to learn. I have two colonies at the moment and I have been checking for queen cells every 7 days. Today has been very rainy and humid and the bees aren't flying much, so I wouldn't have chosen to...

Thank you so much for your reply, I don't hold out much hope for it but will just have to wait and see.

Oh, and I last saw bees flying in and out about ten days ago but that is partly because we have had terrible weather but also because I have been away. So I can't be completely accurate about when they were last flying.

Thank you, I will try that.

I wonder if anyone can give me advice? One of my three colonies appears to have wasps going into it and when I had a quick look under the roof (I have a brood and a half covered by a see-through crown board) I saw some more up in the super. No sign of bees in what was a thriving colony with...

Thank you very much for your wise reply.

Thank you for this. The frustrating thing is that I HAD been reading and watching videos, I bought the oxalic acid in October and asked my local beekeeper when I should use it and he advised new year. So I missed the opportunity. I made a jar for checking for varroa with the sugar roll method...

That is very kind of you. Yes I have joined the local association and I did ring one of the committee for advice; she told me to check for varroa on the base board, which I have done - and have not found any. Many thanks for your reply.

Thank you - I will know for next time. Best wishes.