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Walking the dogs in Richmond Park, west London at midday today, I realised that for some moments I 'd been hearing that noise in the air, and looked up a saw a swarm flying above me, focussing on an oak tree. Weather was calm and very mild. A bit late in the year - and a bit early for next...

Just an update - we decided to do a quick and not very elegant job with bamboo poles and netting up to about 6 ft, either side of the apiary, and are planning to put up trellis when we can get the materials. The netting seems to deter the bees on the way out but less so on the return journey...

Thanks, everyone. I've got a decent barrier of shrubs in front of the hives, planted years ago precisely to steer the bees up and over but the layout of the plots makes planting down the sides more difficult, For years we've been "lucky" - with the character of the bees and the neighbouring plot...

Hello, We have to put up screening to protect our neighbours on the allotment from the bees, and have been given some rolls of netting with 22mm mesh - the sort that you'd use to stop cabbages whites from investigating the brassicas. The holes are certainly big enough for a bee to pass through...

Thanks very much everyone - all good advice and (mostly!) consistent! Sometimes one just needs to be reminded of the obvious, like making up the nuc in a brood box. I'm pretty sure they are queenless but will sift. 10 days ago ago I saw them swarming out of the hive and settling nicely on a...

I'm expecting a queen in the post this week to introduce to a large colony which has been queenless for about 3 weeks. The colony is now quite ratty - not highly agressive but enough to make me feel uncomfortable about introducing the queen directly in a cage. I thought I would put her in a nuc...

Thank you. A spray with Hivemaker's syrup it is. Mel

I've been lucky enough never to have had a serious case of nosema but this year one out of three overwintering hives has a bad case - lots of dysentery and a greatly reduced number of bees. Queen was laying a bit three weeks ago but apparently not now, and only smallish sections of capped brood...

Turns out it was 6 years ago. How time flies. Also interesting on Beebase is they give the number of apiaries in a 10 km radius. 520!

Can't quite remember - must be three or four. Should have kept a note.

I had a visit from the Seasonal Bee Inspector for the area today - I just want to say it was thoroughly positive and helpful. I've had a couple of inspections over the years which have all passed off ok with a clean bill of health, but today's inspector really took the opportunity to share...

I think one also has to start from a standpoint which would be frustrating to some beekeepers - I and the bees are guests on the allotments, dependent on good behaviour - even though I pay rent - so I have to fit my beekeeping round that. Got a clever plan for splitting a colony and only got...

Interesting to hear everyone's comments and to know there are definitely different schools of thought. I will probably carry on feeding fondant as a "just in case"- not a very serious expenditure for 3 or 4 hives, as someone said. I personally would not rely on hefting alone as a measure of...

Every year I feed the bees fondant, starting on Christmas eve. Every year, at the first inspection, I find plenty, sometimes over half, of frames of stores still uneaten, which are then surplus to requirements. Last week, during speedy administration of OA with a friend, 3 colonies were...

I put in the MAQS yesterday, having deliberately waited till the weather cooled down - since then it's been raining , and I'm worried they won't be able to fly and get fresh air if they need it. A few minutes after putting the strips in I had to change the roof on one hive for one in better...

Here in west London a few trees full out, most in large bud. This weekend should bring them on. It's at least 10 days late compared to a normal season. Mel

I agree with the above. Honestly, bees can co-exist happily with allotments if you are prepared to leave the bees alone if they are getting tetchy (providing leaving them alone does the trick - if gratuitously aggressive you have to accept the onus is on you act quickly to remove, re-queen or at...

Thanks for this thread, I'm in the same position of goind away on Tuesday for 10 days. I took a very speedy look at my strongest colony today and there seems to be one heck of a lot of bees, all looking very lively. This is a colony I was thinking of running on a double brood this year - I've...

Ten years on and I still occasionally panic when they start swarming! My solution is to take a deep breath and re-read the Welsh Beekeeping Association booklet "There are Queen Cells In My Hive - What Should I Do?" http://www.wbka.com/pdf/a012queencells.pdf It's mentioned here from time to...

You don't have to go far from the centre of London to be in surburban areas of large gardens, allotments, etc. I'm always astonished by Bee Base telling me there are 446 apiaries within a 10km radius of my beehives which are near Hammersmith Bridge - sounds as though the bees should be fighting...