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I think field beans are marketed in the UK to vegetarians/vegans as 'fava beans'. There's a growing market and they're quite pricey too. https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife/wildlife-stories/british-fava-beans-history-and-recipes/

Is it possible that the late Ivy flow is because of the mild weather conditions we experienced last winter, and it's actually the weather pattern that's the real cause? The mild weather conditions and plentiful forage meant a larger proportion of bees kept the brood nest larger for longer...

I said I'd take some photos today showing the bees inside the bait hive and also showing the four frames of stores I put into the other hive. The forecast has changed and I'm not comfortable opening the hives up at 8° in the rain - I know I'm still far too slow and would do more harm than good...

The damsons and quince are out, the rosemary is in full bloom, and now the first pear blossom opened today. Here's a selection of some of the photos I took over the past few days. The bees particularly love the viburnum early in the year and we have two types growing, the winter flowering...

That's what it looks like now the frames are pulled. Before it was four frames of freshly-capped stores and two frames with mainly uncapped stores and a little space. Also brace comb and the beginnings of extra comb on top of the frames. I didn't lift the last two uncapped frames out to check...

OK. Looks like Wednesday will be photo day, because I'm not at work then and I don't mind lifting the lid briefly when it's over 11°c

"You removed four frames of stores that the swarm brought with them? If your colonies are low on stores, feed them, it's a bad idea to share their stores around your colonies, you don't know anything about their health. Did you feed the swarm? They will probably need it." I panicked a bit. In...

Nah, I wouldn't leave empty frames out all winter, it'd attract moths or beetles or mice. The bait hive went up after the last snow melted and I saw odd behaviour in one of my hives. I thought 🤔 maybe I need a new queen just in case. I was surprised to see almost immediate interest. I thought...

I checked on the hives yesterday and there are new residents in my bait hive. No idea how long they've been there, because I wasn't expecting anything due to poor weather and haven't checked for 2 weeks. They have somehow filled four pre-drawn combs with capped honey and flooded the brood nest...

Perhaps also put up a bait hive during the time periods where you feel there is the highest risk of them swarming. This will give you a little more security that if you do miss the queen cells during inspection and they swarm, all is not lost. If you catch your own swarm, you will be able to...

"As I read it that study doesn't exclude pollen within the wax being responsible for some/most of the reactions." Yes, that was my understanding of the study too. My gut feeling is that it's something within the beeswax causing the reaction, and it's probably pollen since pollen will get into...

On a lighter note, did you know that even bees are allergic to their own wax? Whenever they make beeswax, they end up with hives :cool: (Sorry, I'll get my coat...)

There could be pollen mixed in with the beeswax, as pollen gets into everything and people are known to have pollen allergies. Although it is rare people can have allergies to beeswax too: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31066083/

If we win it will probably be because I caught my neighbour's swarm. If that happens you may have the June queen. My neighbour's bees are notorious with the local council and are on an allotment opposite my street. My house is in their preferred flight path. Every year they start early and...

28th March

It looks as though the build-up for spring is just getting started here in Nottinghamshire. I noticed a few crocus and other bulbs in bloom in nearby gardens last week, although not enough for the bees to show much intrest in them. I'll be planting large swathes of Crocus sativia and Camassia...

I'm not the OP, but I wanted to give an update about the hive I suspected had died off last year following disease and then a late swarm. Today was the first day it's been warm enough to open the hive up for a quick peek, although there was still snow on the ground so I didn't risk pulling up...

I've just had a similar experience: one treated hive appeared to be doing well, plenty of stores and bees and brood. Then many bees started falling to the floor around the hive, a few days later a small swarm left and took up residence on a neighbour's roof before I could collect them, and two...

Spotted the first Ivy buds opening near me in Nottinghamshire today. Judging from the buds it looks like the main Ivy flowering period will start next week. The bees are mainly interested in fuscia at the moment, and there seem to be enough bushes in the local town to make it worth their while...