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Thanks Skyhook. Some good advice there.

What's going on when there are unhatched eggs in a colony. I've got a small nuc with a new queen and they've had the same frame of eggs for a week at least - unhatched. Have they got chilled? In which case why don't they remove them? They look happy enough with their queen, but they are small...

Thank you. I'll go to choir practice with peace of mind.

It's 7pm and since about 5 o'clock the bees have been sitting in clumps at the entrance to the hive. They are very calm and don't seem excitable or swarm. I have heard of this behaviour on hot days, but never seen it. Are they just keeping cool? How late in the day might I expect them to swarm...

Thanks. I would call the new box the one with the QC and nurse bees, in new location. Old box is original location, Queen and flyers.

Thanks.

Hi I performed an artificial swarm about 10 days ago. Since then the bees that were separated from the original colony are not flying very much. They have sealed brood, stores and a QC. When I spotted this, I was worried that they wouldn't have enough stores if they weren't foraging, so I fed...

Thanks both. Helpful and reassuring. deb

Hi My remaining few jars of last season's honey have developed a white growth on the top. This honey set quite quickly in the autumn and is pale yellow in colour. My bees are in an urban area with no agricultural forage so it is very light, floral honey. It has been stored in a very cold room...

I've just melted down my first bucket of beeswax - collected from cappings and brace comb over the last couple of years. I used a bain-marie method and didn't mix the wax with water. I strained the molten wax into a tetra pack box and, when it set and I cut it open, I found I had a lot of...

I inspected my two swarmy hives on May 23rd, removed lots of queen cells and left two sealed in each. (I know - I did get a cast the following week, which I caught and hived successfully). Inspected hives on monday (4th June) and there was one sealed cell still in each. I'm sure they were the...

I went through my two hives this morning - and took over 40 queen cells off one of them. I thought they had swarmed about two weeks ago, but there has been a lot of activity reported by neighbours in the last couple of days - and clearly they've had eggs since I left them, as it turned out...

Thanks so much jimmybee. I'll let you know. deb

Thank you Richard. I might just sleep tonight now. deb

Bees swarmed into my neighbour's chimney the other day, though they only told me this morning. We've spent the whole day smoking them out, but they seemed pretty stoical. Then about 3.30 I noticed a swarm in a low bush very close to the house. I have collected this swarm and removed it...

Thanks Jimmbee. I'm in Newcastle-u-Lyme - so not that near you I'm afraid - and the house is an old Victorian one. Very high! The neighbour is being wonderful and we're frantically smoking them. Though they don't seem that bothered. Seems they're definitely my bees. They saw them rise out of...

Thanks Poly Hive. I've suggested that. Good to know it was the right advice. They went in yesterday. Hopefully a fire will encourage them to move on... Funny thing was I thought both my hives had already swarmed. Of course they may not be my bees, but the neighbour is very close to where I keep...

Bees have swarmed into neighbour's chimney. Any suggestions?

We shook them down into a bottom box yesterday, and brushed down frames with queen cells on so as not to damage them. Added QX and stacked the brood above. Today, the brood and upper supers were full, but the bottom brood box was relatively empty. It was easy to look through and we couldn't see...

The weather has been so awful it's been difficult finding a time when I'm free and it's not raining to look in my two hives. I was suspicious of one of them - a swarm I got last year, origin unknown - as they seemed 'swarmy'. Just taken a chance on a break in the weather to have a look and...