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I may need to move about an hour south soon, and where the bees will live is a big part of deliberations. Current site - my own very small field, high up on a fell so long winters and plenty of rain the rest of the year. But, plenty of forage nearby with early season willow to heather later...

2 colonies, one in a BB, no super needed as there are still 4 empty frames/comb in the BB for them to fill, plus I have a saved frame of capped honey to add as stores to help get them through the winter. Second hive I combined two colonies a couple of weeks back. Today all good, BIAS in top BB...

My strongest hive swarmed about ten days ago (my fault) and two similar/sized lumps of bees settled on an elder tree half way up a steep bank over a beck… I managed to reach one and hived it, they absconded the first time but stayed when I tried again…with a bribe of a honey frame to encourage...

I’m picking up a small colony next week and wondering whether they’ll be best in the nuc for a bit or whether to move them straight into their smart new poly hive? And if the latter will I need dummy boards in the BB, or will foundation and some stores (and poss some brood from another hive) be...

It came with my Swienty hive and I didn’t use it until the bees glued the roof on…but could it be causing problems in this weather? I’ve assumed the poly hive will be helping keep them as cool as they need (there’s no excessive bearding or condensation) but wonder if they’d be better without the...

Single national BB came through winter well but didn’t need all the stores I left them. Now has 4 frames of brood all stages and rising, so I’m taking out honey frames (they didn’t need fondant) to make space. Pollen coming in. Do I take off honey frames one at a time or all at once - and if the...

Happily, both my hive and the nuc seem to have come through the winter ok. Now the daffodils are out, along with celandines and a few early honest flowers, should I take the fondant out of the nuc or leave it in there? The hive hasn’t needed any as they had lots of stores, which presumably I now...

My brood and a half poly hive is still very heavy, with colony clustered between the frames just under the roof. It’s still cold here and they looked (from a v quick glance) v sleepy, but they were moving. Is it safe to assume they’ve got the stores they need, where they need them, or should I...

I’ve bought a cedar eke and it came with galvanised nails - do I need to drill the holes first, or is nailing it ok? Or could I use wood glue instead…or maybe the bees wouldn’t like that? I’ve bought it to use with fondant, so do I put it on now ready, or just add it when/if I need to feed...

I moved colony into new hive (BB+new super) 3 weeks ago; BB frames now mostly full of honey - capped and uncapped - with areas of pollen, some brood, and a small amount of comb being made on top of central frames, just touching the super frames, which aren’t yet drawn at all. I had thought I’d...

Another question if I may? How do I reduce the entrance in a Swienty hive, or does the design mean I don’t need to do that? It doesn’t look high enough to let a mouse in…so I’m not sure what else I need to keep out? Poly nuc I have a metal guard for - the entrance on that is definitely...

My fault, I left too much space through not having enough frames…but the new colony has settled beautifully and made beautiful comb much more quickly than I expected… Bearing in mind that the colony is destined for a top bar in the spring, (winters here are cold/wet so with a small swarm I...

I have a queenless colony with a new queen ordered and due to arrive this week. I’ve also ordered a new hive for the colony as the loaned box it’s in will not survive the winter, which can be challenging where we live. So, do I put the new queen in the existing brood box (no brood to speak...

Hello all, I’m beemum (on account of those two things making up most of my waking hours!) and I live in the Yorkshire Dales. This is my second year attempting to keep bees, and I currently have one colony in a brood box and another in a nuc (some of the brood box bees which swarmed a few weeks...