Search results

This is such a great forum, thank you !

Still a newbie, and the last look inside the hives showed a couple of odd things I don't remember seeing before (different hives tho). Can someone enlighten me please?

I used apiguard in the autumn, but have tried varromed this spring - so far so good. I did make sure water was available and did record just a few bodies on the landing board, but not excessive. I left a few days between varromed treatment and putting a super on.

I have an open mesh floor which the bees have pretty much sealed half of it. I want to clean it, but a soak in soda crystals didn't much. Any suggestions please?

I too am about to embark on apiguard, and have pretty much decided to leave the bees just in the brood box and feed as they need it. Most advice is to leave a super on, but I worry they won't move to find the stores, they will have more space to heat, and I also have the problem of taking the...

Thank you for that, really helpful - and makes the job simple as well.

I am tempted to do that, but thought it was better for the bees to have their own honey than sugar syrup? I've looked online, and opinion seems divided

I had another thought. Could I take the super off and freeze the frames while I do the apiguard treatment, then replace it? I have tried putting plastic between the crown board and the roof, just to store it easily, but it was full of wax moth when I went back to it. I'm still in two minds...

Advice please...I would like to use apiguard this autumn, but would also like to leave the bees with a super of honey for the winter. Can I put the apiguard trays on the brood box with an eke, then put the super on top. Presumably there won't be much honey left in the super by spring, and...

Hang on, where does the 2nd BB go?

Thank you Enrico, for your clear explanation of how to unite two hives when both have supers. I had been mulling over that one for ages !

And my huge eucalyptus tree is in flower AGAIN. I posted in December that it was in full bloom, and here we are again. A bit chilly still for the bees to work it, and very windy too, so I hope it is around long enough for the weather to improve a bit. They adore it on a warm day and the...

Yes, that looks exactly like. Luckily it is a fair way from the house!

No, I don't - it is huge, the branches are smooth but the trunk is quite gnarly because it sheds a lot. I'll add a picture showing the blossom and leaf.

Listening to a BBKA talk on feeding, this was a new one on me - take an ordinary bag of sugar, soak in warm water for 15 - 30 seconds (depending on how thick the paper is) and put straight on top of frames. Seems very easy and economical to me. On the subject of trickle feeding, I have to...

I don't believe it... Two years ago my huge eucalyptus tree bloomed in April, and the bees were all over it. Last year it flowered in November, when they were all tucked up in bed. This year - same again. It is just coming into flower now and the weather is freezing, literally. Not a bee to...

November and I really want to move two hives about 100 yards to where I have two more hives. I've read the above but just wanted to be sure that the general consensus is that it is possible to move them but do I wait for a cold snap to make sure they are safely at home in a cluster. I wasn't...

I am still a beginner at this beekeeping lark and find myself with a dozen or so perfectly good frames which I want to put fresh foundation in and re-use. I have scraped them fairly clean but they are not pristine. I can easily freeze them - do I really have to boil them before re-using? I...

North west Kent - Mine are all over the Asters and the Sedums. Ivy not quite in flower yet. Cosmos and Japanese Anenomes popular as well I'm watching our enormous eucalyptus with interest - last year it bloomed twice, once in April and once in November and the whole tree hummed like an engine...

I love the idea of a bucket on a pole - did you actually use it to catch a swarm? I can't do ladders either and this sounds like a plan...