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I have no idea why the occasional hive of mine turns nasty.I have taken in nice calm Queens from elsewhere and re-queened but my point is sooner or later one hive will simply turn. In my first year I used to sit shirtless in a pair of shorts about two foot from my hive watching the behaviour of...

Actually I am not reacting to the current situation - it tends to happen at some stage every year. It just made me think back to the warnings on here when I first decided to keep the bees at home and how I ignored them so it prompted me to post for the frist time in years as you so rightly say...

I should also have said that it can also depend on where in eth season that you are. Now they have honey to protect so do tend to be different from the early season colony build up.

It usually starts to show when you inspect - you get buzzed and get followers. They can than turn quite out of the blue. You open up one day and you have twenty on your legs all in attack mode

I have been keeping bees for 7 years now. I have 6 hives but more colonies all in my garden. When I started out I read with interest various views on why you should not keep bees in your garden. I have to say that in many ways it is a far more satisfying experience as you can see as many times a...

Unfortunately these were brand new and fully formed

I went to a local meeting on Monday and was staggered by how many people had already been opening their hives. I thought that I must have been the odd one so had a quick look today, not a full inspection or even half of one - it was about 12c. Re the Qc's - they have only had winter stores and...

AS the weather was good this afternoon I had a very quick look in my 5 double national hives. I pulled a few frames from the top box only to check that all was ok. 4 out of 5 had multiple brood frames, the 5th only having 2, and one had at least 8 frames of brood on them. This colony had 2...

Less hot than going in with fleeces and two pairs of trousers. The main benefit was feeling bullet proof especially around the head!

I opened up a normally mild hive last Saturday. I took the supers off - "hmm they are a bit feisty today" I split the BB's and was in the process of moving the top one when they came at me en masse like the charge of the light brigade with multiple stings in seconds. I quickly retreated to...

Hopefully they look unlikely to be swarming!

I came home from work and had a quick glance at my hives. One had a pile of dead bees outside. On suiting up I discovered these were in fact a pile of dopey drones that had been expelled from one hive. A quick peek in the hive and all looked well. I took off the Spring crop on Saturday but left...

I came home from work and had a quick glance at my hives. One had a pile of dead bees outside. On suiting up I discovered these were in fact a pile of dopey drones that had been expelled from one hive. A quick peek in the hive and all looked well. I took off the Spring crop on Saturday but left...

Having tried all kinds I have found the very best compromise. You can now buy blue rubber gloves with gauntlets. These are lined and thicker than marigolds and the stings do not get through. You need to take great care to pick a close fit.. In this way you have the dexterity that leather...

I use a QE under the BB for a few days to stop her going straight away. It has seemed to have worked for me. I use sale grove boards. I would love to know from experts when you would reunite after a snelgrove AS as I would have assumed it would have to be in Autumn when bee numbers are down and...

I had a hive where the queen failed mid summer so I combined with another with a young laying queen. All went well until September 7 when I noticed some supersedure cells. Assuming the bees know best I let them get on with it. My concern is that since then I have seen no eggs. I assumed that she...

I found lots of brood in my super yesterday. Having considered all possibilities including my stupidity, I can only deduce that she got through and has since returned as there are now eggs below. They have not swarmed and I saw the Queen a week before and there has been no sign of super endure...

It all depends on how much and how fast they are bringing nectar in. If you have OSR close by then they can fill a super in days. What also matters is the number of frames of brood in the BB. If there is no room to lay in the BB the she will swarm so you may need to consider giving the Queen...

I have had this happen using a angel grove board for an AS . Now I put a QE under the new BB for a few days so that the Queen cannot escape for a few days.. This seems to work for me

I find this a fascinating hobby but unfortunately I also have to work, have a family, pets galore, a garden et al. This meant making my own kit is too time consuming so I have shelled out on all of the expensive stuff. My hope is that the best cedar parts will last for years as I remain...