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Thank you all for your well-thought out responses. I checked the hive today ( & gave them a serious dowsing in icing sugar as well as sprinkling eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil, clove oil & fir oil in). - It was not a pretty sight... I removed one frame that had some drone brood & found 5-10...

Thank you all. I'm afraid they're not the 'fluffy' answers I was hoping for - but then varroa are nasty wee buggers.

My national has survived the winter, but are heavily infested with varroa. Any suggestions what I could do at this time of the year? I'd like to dust with icing sugar - any suggestions for effective puffing? Thank you.

Do you have plans? My partner built one for me... I think the only crucial measurement is the width of the top bars... I had to go to my local joinery works to get the bars planed to the exact width.

Eeeeeuw! Were any of them still alive? Some young mites were still crawling around when I was counting mine... gave me the creeps.

Hi Keith, I went to your talk on 'Raising Nucs for sale' at Gormanstown. It was very useful and informative - a little bit over my head in places - but entertaining. You've got quite a system going there. A few of us went down from County Down for a day trip - it was a great day out for 16...

One of the members of my beekeepers' association has bees in her attic that have been there for at least 70 years. I would be interested in any research that has been carried out on the wild bee population... anyone know of any?

What a beauty - although and I apologise for being such a fusspot - you could get a lot better results from that camera of yours!

Wow! It made me think... about countries where bees build their nest outside... This is a huge exterior nest of africanised bees in Florida! https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c8gYh9L1__k/TY4PNXGr1gI/AAAAAAAAATY/sGG1m0xuWJY/KissimmeeGiantAHBcolony.jpg

That's a lovely video - mesmerising. It's a very busy entrance and yes, they are bringing in lots of pollen. Happy Days!

Yes, beautiful hive Tom. Good luck with it. How do you feel the bees compare to being in the National? Mine seem 'happier' but old time beekeepers laugh at me when I say that.

'just reading this now (11th July) and wondering how you got on... I ran into a similar problem when my topbar went queenless... not knowing anyone who could lend me brood comb that would fit into it. The videos are pretty good. I hope it all works out. Good luck.

Hi Mike, Some people from Norfolk/Suffolk were looking for fellow TopBar Beekeepers on the Natural Beekeeping Forum I have been looking for people here in Ireland... it takes time, but eventually they'll come out of the woodwork to you. Good luck Christina

I thought it looked great... the kids were really interested in it. Well done. How is she after her day on display? Have you had the time to check on her yet?

That's interesting, and I'm sorry to hear it. Are you still committed to TBH? I notice that my bees are much easier to work with in the TBH. And Oliver, I like Phil Chandler's approach. I wouldn't say 'carried away'. He's affirming many of my own thoughts against intensive beekeeping. He...

I'm reading 'The Barefoot Beekeeper' - it's brilliant. I noticed that it was really warm in my TBH and I was worried the bees would suffocate. Phil Chandler writes about a combination of heat & scent that provides the beehive with its unique, nurturing and disease-resistant 'nest atmosphere'...

Thank you Frisbee. Your soap looks great and I'm encouraged to give it a go. Craig & Darren thanks for your suggestions but A. I'm not a masochist and B. I don't want to get sued. ;-)

Thank you... I'm still quite daunted by the process - and the potential to spend a week creating causticy corrosive bars that don't lather... mmm

I'd like to make Beeswax Soap - and have had a little look online for recipes. I'm getting confused... can anyone recommend a good recipe/youtube demonstration (preferably not using American measurements/ingredients). Also, I don't know where to go about getting lye but it seems necessary.

Great JC. I registered with the site and will try to contact the Donegal group.