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I constantly read about honey bees being in decline, huge colony losses etc much of it from apparently reliable sources, latest one to fall in my lap is from INRA, (Institut national de la recherche agronomique), who are Internationally recognised for their independence and high standards of...

Has anyone any actual first hand experience of honey bees on Rosebay Willowherb in either the UK or France and whether it produces much of a yield? Cheers, Chris

This year for the first time one of the Maize fields, some 50 hectares, has been sown with peas, not as a green manure but for the peas which are harvested for the animal feed industry. The maize is no great loss and there is plenty more of it around but my question is does anyone have...

Thought I would share this taken first thing this morning while the world was waking up and the bees were starting to stir. Nice hive with chalet roof and open ventilation holes. Inside roof three lovely paper wasp nests. Ain't the natural world great? Chris

So as to not detract from another thread... What do people consider to be.. 1. Acceptable winter losses. 2. Acceptable annual losses as a total. This obviously needs to be averaged over many years, I would say 5 years minimum to get a half decent idea, (some years may be zero, others 40%)...

Reading the posts on here and the quantities of honey being produced it looks like there may be a glut of UK honey this year. Chris

I notice that during / following "treatments" recently some people have colonies that are brood-less or have queens that have stopped laying. Given this isn't a natural or normal state of affairs for this time of year is this good? I'd be very concerned if any of my colonies were in this state...

I bet not many of you have these eating your honey bees.:D C'est mignon n'est-ce pas? Chris

Everything has to eat.:cool: Chris

I've had a bit of a surprise today. The people that take my honey in the south of England entered the summer one in the Great taste awards 2012 organised by the Guild of fine food this year and it's been awarded a two gold star rating. OK not the three star but not bad all the same - 2 star =...

Heading for the 40's here next week - I hate it.... ...shhhhhh, I haven't told the bees, they aren't too keen either. Chris

Has anyone successfully kept bees in a highish exposed coastal situation? I suspect that the wind and possibly the salt would be an issue, is this the case? Just interested, Chris

I find, and indeed have always found, that a number of members of this forum give dogmatic advice that borders on giving orders without for one moment, (it would appear), considering all the other approaches and possibilities... ...of course, there may be some that are merely repeating what...

Why does natural, (no foundation), new drawn comb range in colour from pure white to butterscotch? Not a quiz, genuine question. Chris

That's it, are they? Chris

Do you all use tamper-proof sealed lids on your jars and if so how do you do it? I ask because I've been told this is a legal requirement in the UK. Chris

This year, (late summer - early autumn), there are some fields of agricultural lupins that have been sown for the first time in close proximity to two of my apiaries. I've seen these before in the general region but never near my bees. They flower in spring, and very pretty they are as well...

Found this going through some photos for Cazza and gives me an opportunity to show what a sharing person I am.... This wasp went backwards and forwards to the dinner table to cut pieces of ham fat to take back to the nest - which keeps them away from your bees.;) Chris

http://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/en/News/2011/EU-court-bans-honey-contaminated-by-genetically-modified-crop/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/07/europe-honey-gm Chris

Called out for this..... Never known one this late in France. Chris