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I usually swap one hive of bees for 3 days work , saves any cash being used

I happen to think it's a good idea, and as for DCA apparently fairies live there as well

Throwing figures around , so much for this and so much for that, on paper it can be worked out, simple. In reality though it's very different. When making a living out of it you have to throw in your time at say minimum wage which at a guess is around 8.50 an hour which eats into your income big...

So if a colony hasn't got it you breed from that.....but how do you know it's not susceptible and therefore your just making the problem worse. Truth is , no one knows . Weather must play a huge part and as we all know we can't control that. A few years ago I lost a lot of bees through it , got...

So why are they bad queens ??? Because you can't play with them wearing just a t-shirt and shorts ! They are defending their property.. When buying queens what do people want...a nice temper, good honey getter and not prone to swarming. Basically everything that WE want , traits which benefit US...

There you go.....obsession !! For hives that are full of bees For queens that are "perfect" FYI I have tried many things with the bees over many many years. But obviously what do I know FFS!! By the way I don't keep bees......they keep me !

Splitting it and adding a queen , presumably a mated one, is fine. Probably the best time of year to introduce queens if you can get hold of one. Also he'll be weakening the strong colony which is also a good thing. It always amazes me why beekeepers have got this obsession for having strong...

Short of pouring petrol on them bees are pretty hard to kill , I wouldn't worry about it !

It's a box..............you keep bees in ............. Never worked a poly hive before so may buy a couple to try as you can't knock anything until youve tried it....unless your Finnish , in which case what I do is the best and everything else is a waste of time !

Dad had around 20 hives that year lost nearly all of them and what was left wasn't much good , mainly lost probably through suffocation as they were covered in snow and as fast as you dug them out it filled back in (I suspect the cold had something to do with it as well)got some nice pictures...

Leave alone, for all you know there already is another hatched out queen in there , they know what there doing ........we don't . And IMO don't put thymol on if they're relatively weak as when I used thymol several years ago the common result was any weak colony got hammered or killed off by...

I've tried it many times and I can conclude it either works or it doesn't !! '

I've had an awful lot like that this year , like you say very depressing, I also know of a lot more beekeepers who've had the same if I was a betting man I'd say CBPV the more prolific the bee the worse it looks. I know you've said you checked bee base but sometimes it's not completely black...

Blimey.......I must have been living under a rock , all these statistics, I best give up now . Beekeeping is incredibly simple, so why over complicate it ?? Varroa is here and here to stay. Like all pests you have good years and bad years, whether you treat or don't treat is entirely up to the...

It's a method of swarm control probably best used by commercial beekeepers as its quick and you've no need to find the queen. What you need is a brood box about three deep frames preferably with food in and a dummy board , a crown board and most importantly a travelling screen which has been...

After reading the forum from afar I'm amazed no one has yet mentioned chronic bee paralysis virus , something which has hit the bees hard this year, having first noticed it at the end of May , piles of dead bees outside the hive , I went down the route of possible spray damage . Getting in touch...

hopefully added a photo of what i found today ? doing a nuc and found the young queen which i had marked earlier in the season then further on found her mother both happily working away so put them together to take the photo.evidence or proof if you like that two queens can and do occupy the...

I'm right ...your wrong..."beekeepers" in a nutshell I'm afraid. all mine are in top bar hives...down south we have trouble with elephants don't you know ;)

also they've asked for a large donation of bread ??? and wondered if anyone had a toaster they could borrow...

never say never...we're due a bean year..........but when ????