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Hi All, I have inherited a fairly old motorised extractor which I was told might need some electrical repair. On further investigation it looks like (and smells like) the motor is burned out and needs replaced. It's a 12 frame radial extractor. Looks like it had a variable speed controller...

Hi All, Did a split of my biggest colony on the 14th June, Queen was laying well, and was close to a full BB of bees at the time of the split, all seemed quite strong. Queenless side continued on fine, made a few queen cells, I left one in and took one for another colony, just waiting to see...

In at the bees today, and I'm a bit worried that they're running low on stores. 1 of the colonies especially had started to fill a new super but it seems very light now. Another colony is still on a brood and a half, but again I didn't see much evidence of stores. The weather for the last 2-3...

Hi All, Had to get in to the bees today as it's been 2 weeks since last inspection due to nasty weather up here. Wasn't the best of days, 13-14 degrees maybe, and a bit breezy, but the best it's been (i.e. not raining and 30mph+ winds...) and forecast is worse again. So, bees not happy with...

Curious - it was suggested to me that I should replace a BB frame with a drawn super in one of my colonies as a way of getting the Varroa count down. I realise that the Varroa mite prefers a drone cell, but the question is why do the bees choose to build drone comb off the bottom of the super...

Hi All, Now that swarming season is upon us (up here at least) I'm attempting to inspect on a weekly basis. I was last in at the bees on Saturday, which was 9 days after my last look (not ideal I know) but it's the weather that holds me back. Even then, Saturday wasn't the best of days, bit...

Just been in at the bees today. My strongest colony seems to be doing well. I added a super full of drawn comb to the top last Friday but so far the bees haven't touched it. When I got this colony it was a BB plus two supers, with no QE, so there was brood all over the place come spring. It...

Hi All, One of my colonies was set up with a BB and a super, with no QE over the winter. On first inspection, everything looked ok, found the queen in the super, marked her, and moved her down into the BB, and fitted the QE. It was also treated with Oxcalic acid by sublimation shortly after...

Hi All, New beekeeper, and new to this forum. Brief background - I have inherited 3 colonies from my elderly and ailing father-in-law, who is a great beekeeper but hasn't wanted to admit he's needed help with them for some time, so I'm on a bit of a recovery mission. The colonies...