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Have you looked for mice? I reckon you have something bigger than bees eating your old combs.

Two day Beginners theory course in the centre of Wells, Somerset. Dates: Saturday 17th and 24th January 2015 Cost: £95.00 to include good basic book. Places limited. Excellent Christmas present! Practical follow up will be run in the Spring. More details, please pm me. Meg

Hi John, The provider of the hives was informed of the disease. I understand they are near a honey packing factory so I would not be at all suprised if other colonies in the same (original) apiary are showing signs of infection as well, but who will look at them? Here in England I have written...

Hi joctcl, I do understand your concerns and appreciate what the policy is. However, should FIBKA then have destroyed the bees on site and dug a hole in Gormanston's lawn to burn it? Would that have been good PR and the way to go given the number of beginners around? Getting a representative...

OK, thought I would clarify things a little.... AFB was found in one colony on the lawn at Gormanston during a demonstration on Monday morning. The colony had quite a bit of chalk brood and was suffering from a reasonable infestation of varroa which did not help the brood pattern and state. No...

Good luck Pete! I am sorting out a similar scenarion this week, only this one has been keeping bees for several years now. First nuc survived into second year and not more. Gap of a year, then second nuc again through winter and into fab colony this spring - now queenless as per your post...

Queen and foragers. Oops! Edit here - KEEP Q and F's and gift the brood. Rest might make sense now. Nice new comb all sorted for another couple of years and good production too. No waiting uncertainly for a new queen to get made and mated and laying without accident... - even 'though I love...

Hi Beenovice, Yes, I am a fan of double brood as it means I can always keep my options open and change my mind if things didn't happen as I planned! Being somewhat challenged with regard to stature I find bigger boxes harder to deal with so stick with standard National brood boxes. I keep about...

Sorry, took me ages to do last reply, so in addition - OK, you don't really want to go double brood, but if you do for a couple of months, then you can always drop back to a single box later and get rid of the older comb at the same time. More than one colony is a VERY good idea for any...

Hi Beenovice, If they really want to swarm then it is extremely difficult to stop them , but as the 2 posters above have put in their own inimitable fashion it is the natural way of increase and so in a way, a good indication of a healthy hive. I too have drone brood in about half of my...

:yeahthat: I would check they have enough stores as well. If too cold to look in then bung some fondant or a wetted bag of sugar over the feeder hole inthe crown board. Meg

Hi Amari, I use Vitafeed Gold and have no problems with it re the bees chucking out larvae. It may make them groom more 'though (given it is trickled on in sticky sugar syrup) which may make the bees more conscious of varroa and hence perhaps uncap occupied cells. By the way, VG is not a...

Careful when mentioning dysentery and nosema in the same sentence. Neither of the Nosema's causes dysentery, but the latter certainly exaccerbates the spread of the disease. Depends which examiner you have looking at your paper as to how they mark this question despite guidance! Apis has been...

BBwear do made to meaure for the same price I believe. Might do you well for your extra tall one clv101.

Sounds like the European Hornet that flies at night. Worth looking for the paper nest that will be hanging somewhere then calling in pest control to get rid of it. You don't want to react badly to stings yourself or endanger your horse, so worth the cost once identified. To get a photo, try...

Does anyone have National hive plans as CNC files or even CAD drawings? My partner has access to a machine that can use these files which would be great to get a bit of extra equipment cut. Apologies if this has been asked before, but a search didn't turn anything up for CNC, just software...

Hi Gower, To answer your question - no swarming of mine or anyone around me that I have heard of yet. Don't suppose it will be too long 'though as plenty of people are too frightened to look inside their hives because it is a bit chilly! Meg

As a minimum scorch the boxes and get rid of comb that has had brood in. If the rest is in good condition, then yes, treat it with acetic, making sure anything metal has a thick layer of vaseline on or it will get attacked! Cheap enough to get new frames and foundation compared to the cost of...

Itma, I was referring to the original hive that alldigging was talking about and linked to photos. The photos didn't appear to show any food at all and all digging said that their hive was next to this nearly dead one. Alldigging, fair enough if no queen - sorry, must have missed something...

Cause of decline? No food in sight. If my hive was near this one I would be looking in mine rather than worrying about how to kill these few bees! Also, if another hive is queenless or has a drone layer you or someone nearby might appreciate this queen.