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I've heard it said that the time taken for queens to get mated is proportional to the size of the colony; so queens in a mini mating nuc would mate more quickly than those in a standard sized nuc, which in turn would be faster than those in full-sized colonies. Does anyone know whether this has...

Hi everyone - Does anyone know how long it is typical for queens to stay off lay if they decide to 'take a break'? I have a nuc with this year's queen. She emerged in the third week of April, took a while to get mated, but since then has had a perfect laying pattern, and all was going well...

I will be overwintering a small colony in a 6 frame poly nuc this year. As many have pointed out, the roof is a bit thin, so they have an additional eke with about 70mm of kingspan in. Is there any merit to making an insulated kingspan jacket for the whole thing, or is that just OTT? LJ

I need to do a consolidation sometime soon, and will have a spare 2013 mated queen if anyone can make use of her. Would prefer not to put her in the post, so collection from Cheshire would be best. If anyone is interested, then PM me for details LJ

Following MAQS treatment, I have (at least) 2 colonies that have no evidence of a queen. No queen visible, no open brood. (Both queens are marked, and usually make themselves known.) Now I know that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, so I thought I'd give them a week now that the...

Some may remember that some time ago I posted on here about a very bad systemic reaction to a beesting that had me scurrying off to the doctors for advice. A prescription for two epi-pens and a referral letter later, I got notification of an appointment with the specialist allergy group at...

One of my good colonies looked to be superseding; one QC right in the middle of the frame. The QC was sealed a week ago, and the old queen still pottering about on the frames laying and as happy as larry. So I left them to it. Yesterday there were significantly fewer bees there than I...

Having had numerous stings over the years, mad most of little consequence, I was more than a little distressed over the weekend when I suffered a huge systemic response to a single sting thanks to a bee inside the veil. Still not sure how she got in there! It felt like a normal sting, but...

A few weeks ago I retrieved a tiny cast from a neighbour's garden. The queen mated and they are slowly building up - her laying pattern is good, though she is small. But the colony seems to be gaining in strength, and is doing a good job at fending off firstly marauding robbers and now the...

I picked up a tiny cast (just about 1 seam of bees) a couple of days ago. They are in a poly nuc with small entrance hole and integral feeder. Yesterday evening I gave them a syrup feed, but I fear that they are now being robbed by a nearby colony as there are too few bees to defend the nuc...

:hairpull: I have had three artificial swarms fail so far this season, and am not sure exactly why. Was hoping for some enlightenment. Here's the method, and the recurring problem... (Long query follows, so please bear with...) My beekeeping mentor advocates a demaree-style AS which splits a...

I'm planning to consolidate two colonies at the weekend, so will have a mated queen available and free to a good home if anyone would like to come and get her. She's this years, and with a nice temperament. PM me if interested. The colonies are at my out apiary in mid Cheshire, close to...

I'd like to do a bit more reading around swarms and swarm management. Would anyone be able to make any recommendations? Thanks in advance! LJ

Last weekend our inspection revealed 8 queen cells, all with grubs and ready to go. We did an artificial swarm, and all seemed well. However a snoop round the bottom of the hives tonight (four days later) reveals a good number of dead adult drones and perhaps a dozen almost-mature drone larvae...

Looking at the varroa drop from my one 14x12 hive this past month, there have either been (on one occasion in november) three mites or more recently none. Is the consensus from the group that it it better to apply oxalic as a prophylaxis? Or do we refrain from treating something that may not be...

Two weeks ago we put the first super on our new hive. The bees ignored it completely. sprayed with sugar syrup; bruised the brood stores...still only a passing interst. Not daring to be too hopeful, we came to do an inspection at the weekend, and it was almost too heavy to lift. That took me...

We have had our second colony of bees, originally from a hived swarm, for nearly two months now. they are in a 14x12, and doing swimmingly, occupying 6 with brood, to at least some degree, and a further 2-3 with stores. I'd be interested to know how many bees we actually have, but can't find a...

Does anyone know a sensible way of keeping the bees from filling the queen excluder with brace comb? We have a standard national BB with bottom bee space, wired framed queen excluder (with bee space beneath) and national super with bottom bee space. They didn't do this to the crown...

Some advice required if you please... Having hived a swarm in mid June, we have a rapidly growing colony in a standard national BB. Just added first super, sprayed with sugar syrup to encourage some interest in drawing the new foundation. All BB frames bar one are fully drawn, and of them, 6-7...