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I have been hovering around the 10-12 hive mark (mostly double brood or double and a half) for a while but have recently changed job so have a little more time on my hands. I am thinking of investing in some equipment and heading towards the 25 hive mark. Can anyone think of anything in...

I have been having trouble on and off with aggression over the last few years and was just going to share one thought on it and if anyone has any thoughts I would like to hear them. Agression is nearly always blamed on the queen, but I have a few hives that were fine last year but are extremely...

My honey sells well in a local tourist shop next in the village nearby, but recently a number of tourists have asked if I offer tours of the apiary, After initially thinking that it wasn't a great idea I am now thinking maybe it might be something to explore further. Get a few bee suits, maybe...

I got a full inspection of all hives done at the weekend and although they are all looking strong at the moment full of brood at all stages and starting to fill supers there is a very high varroah load. I treated with Oxcalic in January by trickling but this year it doesn't seem to have really...

I was wondering if anyone has any experiace with propolis extraction? I was cleansing up some old brood boxes recently and one or two had alot of propolis on them, I scrped it off into a jar and am wondering what do do with it. I see it for sale on the internet for 30 ml of a solution which...

It hit 14 deg in the sheltered sun here yesterday so I took the opportunity to have a look under some crown boards. It was a useful exercise. I found that one of my queens were laying drones so I shook them out, I also found that two of my colonies were full of bees. One in Particular was...

I just took a look under the lid at the weekend on my hives and noticed that they are all still jam packed with stores. I got a surprise looking under one of the lids of a double brood hive, seems thay have been busy since October.

One of the shops I supply sells about 10 jars a week at the moment. The last time I was in they asked me was it possible to get a bar code on the jars. They said that it would make it quicker for them to sell the honey, has anyone else any experience with getting a barcode?

Hi All, I have a colony in which the queen started laying 4 weeks ago. I noticed when the first patches of brood were capped that some of the cells in the worker pattern were raised (as drones would be). I suppose about one in 20 or 30 of the cells. I decided to give her the benefit of the...

Yesterday evening myself and another beekeeper removed a colony from a cavity wall/roof space. According to the occupier they have been there continuously for six years. I know that it is has been the same colony for at least the last two because I have taken swarms from them? I was amazed when...

I am going back to a guy that I visited last year. He has had bees in the cavity wall of his office/garage for the last 6 years. I captured a swarm from them last year. The bees are getting in and out through a hole at the corner of the door and two other points where the cavity meets the roof...

Just got a phone call about a swarm that has just arrived in the roof of a house in a nearby village, damsel in distress with a utility room full of bees. First of the season. I have to say this is one of my favorite parts of beekeeping. Bringing bees from somewhere they are a pest to getting...

Got a quick look at them during the sunnier part of Sunday and another hive had bit the dust. Treated with OA in early Jan and were looknig strong then. Peeked under the lid two weeks ago and they seemed well if down a good bit in numbers since Jan. They had 1 inch of polystyene for insulation...

Hi All, I opened the hives yesterday to trickle the oxcalic acid and found one of my hives to be empty. A few dozen dead bees but not enough to account for a dead colony. The colony buzzed back when I gave it a knock just before christmas so I assume they were there then. There are still...

Hi All, I have been asked to run a three day bee keeping course over the May bank holiday weekend. The course will be aimed at beginners or people who have had bees for a year or two but who haven't had much success in terms of honey production, swarm control, disease control, overwintering etc...

I got a new job in Aughust so didn't have the same time to devote to my honey harvest as I did last year. To cut a long story short I now have 2 x 35 l settleing tanks (strained honey), about 10 10kg honey buckets (unstrained), about 10 supers and a wired deep brood box full of crystallized...

I extracted some supers about three weeks ago and put them back on to the hives to be cleaned down. Over the last three weeks however the bees have been filling them with honey. I removed Five supers today, about 50% capped but all passing the shake test. I have just extracted the first super...

Hi All, Just to let those of you who are interested know that I observed lots of Bees on the heather today. All on the bell heather, not working the ling yet. During inspection there is starting to be some weight on the bottom supper so added a second. Today was 20deg at the heather site...

I have been at another beekeepers apiary on a few occasions through the summer and despite me mentioning a number of times that you shouldant feed while the bees are producing honey he continues to have a syrup feeder on the top of each hive through the summer full of sugar syrup and a chunk of...

I got a phonecall from a lady at the weekend who has had a swarm take up residence in her bathroom floor. They arrived about eight weeks ago so I am told. They are coming and going through a gap between the outlet pipe for the upstairs toilet and the cavity wall. They may also be in the cavity I...