Search results

Took off my two full supers this year (rubbish crop) sat down and spread this year's honey onto some bread at lunchtime to find its bl00dy fermenting as seemingly is the rest of the crop. Rats! I'm sure it was all capped (in fact I was so sure I didn't bother with the reflectometer). Looks...

My mistake I guess but I keep my hives on pallets. As I was taking the top BB (ex demaree) off my big and generally friendly hive the pallet broke and three supers and two BBs collapsed (think Twin Towers) - how many bees are there in a full bore summer hive during a field bean flow? - more...

I have just come back from my bees and boy were they were pretty tetchy, they are normally fine. I expected this as I know there are storms about. However I am in Suffolk and the nearest storms are around London - Can they really detect it that far. I am a contributor to Blitzortung and our...

Silly question, but here goes. What is to stop me going to a charity shop and buying a couple of old saucepans to make a bain-marie to melt my scrap wax (I have loads thanks to losing two hives to wasps in the the late summer, where the wasps have trashed the combs) rather than waiting for...

Two weeks ago I had three hives with queens and eggs - I didn't inspect last week as the weather was foul - simply topping up the feeders. I have just come back from this week's inspection to find one hive fine and dandy and each of the other two hives seemingly queenless with no eggs nor young...

Some good news from the area for a change - note blue hives again! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/beekeeping/10202657/Beekeeping-flourishes-in-Afghanistan.html

... just read this book a fantastic little hardback on bumble bees, highly recommended Mark

Two of my hives have gone weird on me: Hive one eggs in the supers - none in the BB. - Shook all of the bees (and the misplaced Q I guess) back into the BB, replaced the QE - hopefully sorted though I took a sting to the nose in the process - bloody wind. Hive two - Eggs and BIAS in BB, eggs...

Well I can't load it and I have some inspections to record :-(

Just watched loads of somebody else's bees on our crocuses (mine are too far away), it really makes one positive to see bees out and about again.

Interesting article on the Torygraph website http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9612292/Bees-can-bite-as-well-as-sting.html Mark

Just back from a fantastic two weeks amongst the vines and sunflowers of the Tarn (near Toulouse). Loads of hives and I bought a jar of the bright orange Tournsol local honey, I know we get nothing off sunflowers here in the UK but our southern-french amis do get a lovely floral, colourful...

Is there a discount store in France offering Dadant kit - I seem to remember something about this years ago but can't find it. I'm off to the Tarn on my hols shortly and wondered if it made sense to get some kit en France.

I recently purchased from a well know national bee kit retailer a suction hive filter - basically a bucket with filter and pump to evacuate some of the air below the filter to suck the honey through. Anyone here got any experience of it and able to offer hints and tips. To me my standard...

I completed a shook swarm on one of my hives two weeks ago, they now have eggs and brood at all stages and have drawn out most of the foundation already. Today on an inspection there were two capped queen cells on a tiny patch of brood in with the stores towards the end of the brood nest. As...

I have two hives that need to be moved 20m across rough farm land (one has just donated a swarm to my third hive which is in the new location) . The farmer has asked me to do it. Is there any other way, other than what I am currently doing of moving them a metre a week - over some rough clay...

As I reported quickly on Saturday in WDYDITAT I was called early Saturday morning by the farmer on whose land my apiary stands to say that one of my hives was swarming. It was blowing a near gale, 8 degrees and raining. I went up to have a look (not believing him) and it was swarming exactly as...