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I have just put on clearer boards so I can start Apiguard treatment. Problem is one of my hives has a large amount of brood in the lower super. (I took out the queen excluders earlier this year as they were getting totally blocked with propolis, wish I hadn't now) Do I remove the super and...

My queen stopped laying in May and the 2 supercedure cells had disappeared by 20 May. I saw larvae on 16 June, looked nice and even, but on doing an inspection today there were large amounts of drone brood on all frames, one very small patch of worker brood and a supercedure cell. I have read...

A friend collected a swarm for me last Friday, due to various circumstances I couldn't collect them till Saturday morning. I was worried about leaving them another day so decided to hive them straightaway. I went for the method that uses an empty super on top of the bb to contain them. So far so...

At the beekeeping lesson yesterday I described the state of my hive. (No larvae, sealed brood and empty cells, no queen cells on the bottom of the frames but 2 sealed supercedure cells) General consensus is that they swarmed about 6 to 8 days ago. Advised to leave supercedure cells and not buy...

I've been reading threads about Queens laying less when nectar flow is low. It's very dry here, I checked on 5th May and noticed a lot less larvae (can't see eggs, need to get different glasses). Today only a very small patch of larvae, about 2 inch square, but they are very small (2-3mm)...

At a recent beekeeping lesson, the instructor split a hive that didn't have any queen cells. 50:50 split of frames, hoped queen in hive in original position. (He didn't actually spot her) He also created nucs in the same way. I'm still waiting for evidence of queen cells and more interested in...

Does anyone have pictures of playcups?

I know about the importance of making regular inspections from now thru the swarming period. My question, if we get a prolonged period of cold/wet weather, what should take precedence, inspections or not opening the hive? Would I be right in thinking that bad weather will supress the swarming...

Bees wintered on a brood box and super, when I opened the hive yesterday I broke open some cells that had been made in a cluster between the two sets of frames, about 10 in all. The larvae looked a bit big! I found one outside the hive this morning and measured it, about 17mm long and 7 mm...

Bees have been very active recently and I have been removing the mouse guard in the morning to avoid congestion and putting it back in the evening. When can I just take it away?

Had a few warmish days now and bees out in force bringing in pollen. Quite a few however landing on the veg garden, could they be taking trace elements from the soil? Also landing on rocks covered with litchen and moss, not sure what they are getting there? thought it might be water but...

Last September I fed sugar syrup till they stopped taking it (7kg) then put on a full super for the winter. They were active till early Nov. I thought that would probably see them into early spring. However a quick check at the beginning of January revealed an almost empty super. They have since...

I have some liquid wax sold for furniture and wood floors. It is a base of "cire noble" (noble wax?) vaporisation containing white spirit, washable. Skull and crossbones on container with usual warnings about avoiding skin contact, inhaling. Would it be suitable for treating new pine hives or...

I have just bought a new hive, have re-read my notes from last years course on artificial swarming to create a new colony and done some reading on the internet. I now have information overload and am now totally unsure which is the best method. Any recommendations please. I am a bit limited for...

Lots of posts mention hefting hives but at what point do you decide that they need feeding. Mid Nov the girls stopped taking syrup, I gave them a full super and checked the weight at the back of the hive with a spring balance, (I have no faith in my ability to "feel" the difference) it was 22...

Thought I would be ready to make fondant as you don't seem to be able to buy it in France. I have found liquid glucose but it contains sulphites (E223) as a preservative. Would this be ok?

I noticed the bees were using stores so fed with sugar syrup today. Fairly warm this afternoon (23°) and lots of activity round the hive with quite a few bees trying to enter under the roof which I've never seen before and none seem to be bringing in pollen which they were yesterday (though...

Sorry to ask what is probably the obvious but what exactly is an eke? I see lots of references to it but can't find an explanation. I think I've got the general idea but just to be sure!

Have just removed a sheet of white card I placed under the ventilated floor of my hive for 24 hours. At first I thought there were no mites as I was looking for reddish coloured beasties but then noticed a fair number of pale brownish mites moving about at some speed. My research suggests these...

I have one super on my hive and it is full of honey. I plan to remove it while I treat for varroa then put it back for the bees over the winter. If this is ok should I replace it with an empty super to ensure bees have enough room as the young Queen is now laying or would this make the varroa...