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LOL, I guessed he might have been. Still there were a couple of sensible responses which weren't about crown boards in the thread. I'm will see how they go. I have three queens from good stock in Apideas, so if they aren't manageable and have no other redeeming qualities HM will get squished...

Interesting. Given it was a large swarm from a feral colony in a roof space that had been there a number of years, they may have some interesting characteristics. They look more Buckfast than AMM, but I'm tempted to see how they progress with minimal intervention once I'm certain they are...

Its a matter of preference. I leave the feed holes uncovered on all my hives and its rare that bees build comb above them. When they do its a sign that they need more space below the crown board. Bees see the space above the crown board as "outside of the hive" Leaving them uncovered also helps...

I picked up a large prime swarm from a well established feral colony a couple of weeks ago and put them in the out apiary. I inspected them for the first time today. Plenty of sealed brood and eggs, no signs of disease all good apart from the were running all over the comb and they had built a...

Ok... so older bees can recover the ability to make wax... anyone know how long that takes or if there is any other explanation for them not building comb? - its fresh foundation btw.

Hi, I'm using a swi bine style mating nuc for the first time. Last weekend I put in a cupful of bees, some fondant and a queen in a butler type cage. I've checked today, the bees are still there and are all over the fondant, and I saw the queen the right side of the QX, but they have not started...

I suspect that the reason she likely swarmed after the AS was because there was insufficient room on the brood comb for her to lay until new comb had been drawn. Lesson learnt for next year. Still puzzled why they took so long to draw a new Q cell from the test frames.

Its the frame that the queen is on when you transfer. All other frames in the box are foundation. Next year I will put a QX between the brood and floor so she doesn't swarm.

So one the third test frame they have finally created a charged Q cell. However, temperament wise they were dreadful, stinging and following over 50 yards after we beat a hasty retreat (not normal for them at all, even during the time they have been Q-). Original plan was once a Q cell had been...

I hit the sales big time and what with Pagden A/Ss and swarms, this year has taken up nearly all my spare kit. I started the year on 2 hives - I currently have 7 (if they all end up with laying queens). 5 in cedar national hives and 2x poly nucs - I have one empty cedar hive spare. I'm aiming...

Its not the amount of bees, its which hive they are in. I'll be further weakening the Q+ colony as its already lost one frame of brood as a test and wasn't that big to start with. I'll need to find the frame with the least amount of eggs/brood on it to mitigate the loss.

Thanks, I was considering putting another test frame in. However, I currently only have one other definately Q+ colony with 2 others and 2 nucs in that indeterminate following A/S, so I'm a little reluctant to sacrifice resources from the one proven Q+ hive I have if I can afford to wait. Can...

I had a strong colony with an unmarked and unclipped 2013 queen that had overwintered on a brood and a half. On 3rd May I conducted as Pagden A/S which went well with the queen on a frame of brood going into a new box on the site of the original with the remaining frames being foundation, a...

Just got back from the Apiary. Temperature was warmer then the forecast and the rain held off. Both hives are in great shape. Saw both queens and both have plenty of stores. They overwintered on a brood and a half and this has worked well. I kept them well fed with Ambrosia fondant since the...

I'm planning 1st inspection today. The weather forecast here in Oxford is for mostly cloudy with 12°c as a high. Bees have been flying when they can, so I'm hoping all is ok. If everything is good I will put a new brood box on top and replace the fondant with syrup to encourage them to draw out...

Hi Eddie Try contacting the vale and downland beekeeping association. They cover the area of South Oxfordshire that borders Swindon. They might know somewhere. Sounds like you need to move them Asap. Good luck Sent from my YP-GI1 using Tapatalk 2

This is my first year of beekeeping, so its a big learning curve. I treated (OA trickle) in early January but it had been mild for a good three weeks, so I supposed there would have been brood but hoped not much. Mite fall was about 150 after a week in one hive about 70 in the other. These last...