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Thanks for your various replies. There is no doubt that the varroa got beyond what it should have done. I knew it was bad but had honey supers on and so treated with Apistan as soon as the supers came off - but too late I feel. I probably should have tried something else - like icing sugar...

I discovered on Saturday that one of my hives has died. :( It had a bad varroa infestation at the end of the summer and then wing deformity problems.... So, now what? I have a brood box full of stores but its pretty ropey looking. I think a mouse may have been into it. Do I just cut out the...

I like your workshop. Its nice and tidy - just like mine!! :D

I am thinking about constructing a wooden box to place over my national hive so that there is a narrow gap of air between them and the floor remains OMF. Anyone any thoughts on this? The bees would still be able to get in and out if they wanted to.

Hard to say from photo. Did it look like this wood wasp?

Sad story. What a beestard.

The "Pete" on ebay that is referred to earlier in this thread..... Can anyone point me to this guy on ebay now? The old link doesn't work.

Hmm - 3 hives times 2 months equals a whopping 0.5 years!

Yes, this is sort of where I was going with this. If I don't treat and they survive the winter then I am encouraging varroa resistance. Look at the analogy of rabbits and myxomatosis. Myx wiped out 90% or so of the rabbit population and we all saw the results. Horrible. However, a number...

Hi Kazmcc, I don't know that. I am surmising. However, I do know that there have been bees in that spot all summer every summer for 30 years. So I think its a fair bet that there have been long periods of continuous occupation. As for the question of how much varroa. The drop rate is quite low...

Hi Kazmcc, I don't know that. I am surmising. However, I do know that there have been bees in that spot all summer every summer for 30 years. So I think its a fair bet that there have been long periods of continuous occupation. As for the question of how much varroa. The drop rate is quite low...

I have one strong "feral" colony. They swarmed out of the roof of a large local country house, where there have been bees for at least thirty years. They have varroa and so I am considering treating them this autumn. But, if they have survived thus far without treatment, why should I treat when...

I am a total newbie. I have three hives, all of different provenance and I've had them for a couple of months. I'm trying to get my head around every thing that I read but also everything I observe. One of my hives contains small stripy bees that are very aggressive. They behave differently...

I have a hive of very aggressive bees. I had a super on top of the brood box with no QE (in order to encourage bees to draw out super foundation.) Now, with half the super drawn and the sun shining at last, I wanted to add a QE. Went to look for queen in super - no luck (but saw eggs), so...

Excuse my ignorance. What is a test / trial frame? What purpose does it serve? Thanks.

Getting back on track, is the mould something to worry about? My feeders are a bit mouldy, should I be cleaning them? How often?

I'm not sure what mine are foraging on. There is a lot of variety in pollon colour coming in from 'ear wax' grey to bright yellow. However, yesterday I saw a bee with 'matchstick head' red pollen! Cool.

Thanks for all your answers and help. Much appreciated. I've plenty more questions to come! W

Hi MM, Thanks for the quick reply. The beggining of this hive was a weird state of affairs. I was given a nuc by a friend but we reckoned after about three weeks that it was queenless. At the same time my father had to have some work done on his roof, which involved me removing a wild bee...

Hiya - newbeek here with first question of many! I inspected my new hives today. Still trying to figure out what's what. I opened up some drone brood and found larvae - some with varroa. However, I saw something that worried me. Some of the cells contained a weird white hard substance. I pulled...