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Galaxy55 I think you may just have to watch and leave alone for a while. Forecast in Manchester not set to rise above 12 for next 5 days. It is frustrating not being able to do anything. I have two colonies in my garden and three weeks ago on a warm day one of them was extremely busy and the...

OP is from Manchester. In other post I did mention I appreciate north is different to south. Still March is early and this is beginners section. Give them more time is my view.

I have said on another thread, but I think March really is too early for doing inspections. Yes the temperatures are getting to 14 degrees but not for all the day. When you open up the hive it will lose a lot of heat. It takes energy to replace that The bees will be just transitioning from...

There seems to be quite a lot of inspections going on. Is this not a bit too early for doing this? Admittedly I am in the North West of England and things tend to be at least three weeks behind the south, but it still does seem to me a bit early. Surely the bees are only just getting going...

I saw these hives in Costco on Friday and was horrified. So much so I have sent a letter to Costco saying that I think that selling these is perhaps accidentally irresponsible. A big spiel about swarms, romantic ideas of keeping bees people seem to have, and it is a serious error to be selling...

I have 8 hives and when looking at an extractor I took the view that I would only ever buy one extractor. I did look at these cheaper ones and having used a manual extractor from my club, I wanted to make things easier for myself so went for a motorised one. It was expensive but I should sell...

Why not flip the floor over? You will probably have to turn it round 180 degrees so the gap is where the opening is. The bees will all move up and in a day or so you flip it back.

Two weeks ago it looked like three nucs housing caught caste swarms and they did not have any brood even though they were caught a few weeks before. Patience paid off as all doing well when inspected today. I was going to inspect a hive I did an AS a few weeks ago but changed my mind as...

Coincidentally I used water spray today because I was at my allotment and forgot the smoker. Bees seemed to respond to it well and it was refreshing for me because it was so hot. I may try this for a while and see how it goes. It is less messing around.

Veg. I am with you on that. This time last year I had two hives. I am at 13 at the moment. I have hired local association extractor but it is a fair distance from my home, it is manual and when you want it, everyone wants it. I decided to buy one this year. I took the view that I am only...

JonBee Don't be disheartened by this. I am in my third season, been on the courses and know so little. An expert beekeeper came round the other night to collect bees for the club for apideas as they were short, and as he collected the bees I learned more off him that evening that I have for...

Where did you get the foundation from? I have not seen any of my bees avoiding the metal before, Mind you I have not seen brood pattern like that either. I normally see some stores as well, which I think helps to insulate the brood against quick temperature changes.

I print my own labels. It is far cheaper and you can print the number you need. I do buy the tamper evident strips though.

If you had left them a few more weeks you should have got a charged QC then done the split. Last year I started with two colonies and ended the season with eight (Splits, and collecting swarms). It was quite a shock to the system and hard work trying to keep up with all the equipment...

I had 6 hives with insulation during winter and just one without. All doing well at the moment and have had to do one AS already. Three hive have a lot of bees very little room left on the frames so I have supered. I think with frosts this time of year they tend to be just in the night and...

I have said to many that keeping bees is harder than bringing up children (and I have four) but like having children it is very rewarding. I would say the hardest thing I have found is not the decline of colonies, but the increases. I went into spring last year with a few colonies and came out...

Bees at my allotment on Saturday 20th April. They love it in this spot as it is very sheltered and gets the sun nearly all day.

This is perhaps resurrecting an old thread, but I found it interesting as I tried a blower yesterday; It did not go well. I think it was a number of mistakes compounded. The blower I used was a Wickes Wet or dry drum vacuum/blower. It is pretty powerful so I think it is strong enough. In...

I don't think you need to plant many more near the ones you have as they spread very well on their own. I have loads of them now from a couple planted a few years ago.

New on the BBC website :- "Rain 'almost apocalyptic' for wildlife, says National Trust" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18849327