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I've noticed my bees taking the fondant even though there are still plenty of stores left in in the hives. Do they prefer sugar to their own honey? Also, apart from keeping them for later in the year, I have about 12 full 14x12 frames of honey stores (over 40Kg), any advice what's the best...

I'm thinking of trying an American style trap-out on a swarm in a wall as shown on youtube, I've made a wire cone etc. The swarm is low down in a brick wall (about 4 feet from the ground). They haven't been there more than a few weeks. Has anyone on the forum tried it with any success.

First inspection yesterday revealed one of my hives queenless, so I put in a frame of BIAS from another. Question is how soon will I be able to see evidence of a new queen cell being started......24 hours?

Anyone else having problems accessing previously purchased digital editions of the magazine

Yesterday I went to do the oxalic on a couple of hives and one was clustering nicely so did that one ok. The other still had a half full feeder on since October and quite a few bees were up feeding. When I went to remove it (and the crown board) the bees were all very active and started to come...

I wondered if these would be ok to use in the smoker. I got them from a pigeon racing friend as they use them as nesting material to deter mites.

Earlier in the year I think there was a thread asking for info on feral colonies and if they had survived over winter. I know of two colonies in Cumbria, one in a wall and the other in a tree, not sure how they have been there (although locals say there have been bees there for a number of...

This has probably been covered in the past, but I am interested to know what is left in the solar extractor after the wax has melted. I know the cells are polished each time before the queen lays. Are these honeycomb structures good for anything.

Advice please, how long will eggs stay viable outside the hive, hours? days? I could'nt graft them yesterday because of the weather, and it's now 48 hours since I took them out, I have the comb wrapped in a damp cloth.

I did a successful demaree coming up on three weeks ago, any advice on the next step, do I leave as is, remove the top BB so they don't fill it with honey, move more frames to top BB?

Any advice on the the best way to requeen an agressive hive?

My wife got her first sting on her thumb about a week ago and yesterday it started to swell and its still very swollen and sore today. She always reacts to insect bites, mosquitoes etc. whereas they don't bother me much. Have any members reacted in this way and if so do you have any advice.

I treated my hives with oxalic just before Christmas. and the mite drop so far has only been one or two. Is this a good sign or do they take a bit longer to die. Could they be lying dead in the empty cells waiting to be cleaned out by the bees when brood laying begins.

Wondering if the cluster would be any bigger in a 14x12 brood, is there any need to increase the amount per seam.

Just been over to Brittany for a few days, watching my neighbours bees for a minute on sunday, nice and sunny, noticed a drone returning to one of the hives. Not unusual I suppose but interesting so late in the season. Any beeks in the south still have drones?

Any comments re the Countryfile piece last night.

One of my hives had a drone layer and I re-queened it. Question is do I need to do anything with the drone brood. My thinking is that when they hatch they will be a strain on the bees.

Hi good people, My colleague (not a bbk) is going to try and smoke a colony out this weekend. It's a 300 year old stone house, so no cavity, probably just enough space for the bees. My question is: anyone know the success rate of smoking out swarm that's been there about two weeks now.

Any takers for a swarm in a hole in house wall in Bishop Auckland (not Bishops Stortford btw). There about a week, 2.5m up. Sorry for the wrong location.