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Hi good folks. I took in another swarm that had already laid down 6 combs before it was spotted; I decided not to waste all that brood/food/wax and proceeded to place the combs in empty frames using wires wrapped around the combs. All good so far, and congratulated myself on a job well done, not...

I collected a smallish swarm 3 weeks ago and have just checked it; there are no eggs or brood, just nicely drawn comb and nectar (no pollen). But there are at least 6 sealed queen cells! No idea what's going on! Normally I'd pop in a frame of brood from another hive to see what's happening but...

What do you make of this? I’ve just found a well-developed Q cell on a super frame, above the Q excluder. It’s not sealed but is c3.5cm long in the centre of the frame and contains royal jelly. Not checked yet to see if it has a genuine occupant. What’s odd about this is that the queen is...

I've done a couple of successful Demarees and now have a brood box acting as a super. I've extracted the frames that were capped/ready (and distributed others among the hives where possible) but still have 10 frames left (from the two Demareed brood boxes) that are about 2/3 full but not ripe...

What is going on?! I have a host of bees trying to get into one of my hives from the back -- where there is no entrance. Many of them are laden with pollen and don't seem to be robbers as they're gathering there almost as a swarm (see the picture). This is an odd hive -- the super is full of...

Hi all -- basic error time I'm afraid. :hairpull: I hived a swarm 2 weeks' ago and used an empty super to help contain the cluster as I shook it into a brood box below. As it was getting dark, I left the super on top and closed up for the night. You know what's coming! I had to leave it becuase...

Hi all, I've put my lower back 'out' by over-enthusiastic gardening and lifting -- worse than ever before -- and I am unable to move about/bend etc. I'm hoping it's only temporary and, although I know bad backs have been discussed before, I was wondering if there was any practical advice about...

Quick question: I'm off on holiday for 2 weeks on Friday. I inspected yesterday and found a charged Q cell (not yet sealed) in my largest colony (3 supers). I left the cell and closed up to think about next steps -- normally I would do an artificial swarm but I won't be about to knock down any...

Any thoughts on whether a swarm is likely to go BACK into the hive that it came from? :confused: I’m sure I’ve seen here somewhere that people have seen this. I had a swarm in the hedge close to my hives this afternoon. I spotted it (the noise) while gardening and in the time it took for me to...

Just a quick question about moving a swarm should I get one in one of my bait hives: I wondered whether it could be moved straight from its site (about 50m from my apiary, so possibly not far enough away for my own swarms, although previous thread suggested that doesn't always apply) to my...

Hi wise beeks (not worthy). Just found something I was surprised by -- I put on a second super with foundation last week. Just checked this evening and, although they've started drawing out the comb, they have also put much more effort into drawing out between the sheets of foundation (i.e...

Hi all -- really dopey question but I noted today that my bees had merely nibbled at a pollen patty (commercially made "Neopoll") after 10 days and I was just worried that perhaps there was little sugar in it and more pollen/pollen substitute. German instructions on the packet (Google...

Hello wise beeks.not worthy Here's something that is confusing me about getting a new queen in a Q- hive (almost certainly laying workers): I have inserted a frame of eggs/brood from my other hive (which is only small at this stage, on 7 frames) and sure enough there are now a couple of...