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  1. M

    Bailey Comb Change - QE and entrance

    Thanks - yes the 'going back to let the drones out' is the bit I'm keen to avoid, as these are sometimes relatively remote apiaries so multiple visits is a pain. Eric's system of entrance on both sides is the obvious solution really, as it lets drones out and avoids pollen loss/queen issues.
  2. M

    Bailey Comb Change - QE and entrance

    Just wondering how exactly people here do a Bailey Comb change in terms of entrance position? I've seen various methods described, but I'm unsure what counts as the 'best' approach. 1. Leave the main entrance at the bottom. 2. Put an upper entrance on top of the QE. (most commonly recommended)...
  3. M

    DNA Testing of Honey Bees

    Not sure on the rules on selling/self-promotion here, so admins please delete if not allowed... I am one of the founders of Beebytes - at the time we were mentioned we hadn't begun offering testing services, but these are now availablethrough our website Our first service being offered is M/C...
  4. M

    Frame storage boxes

    Do you mean the cardboard ones that things like bananas get supplied in? That might be an option for new frames (where keeping pests out isn't an issue). How easy are they to carry, and can you stack them up at all?
  5. M

    Frame storage boxes

    How I would love for a whole room to devote to beekeeping kit! That does sound like an eminently sensible way to store things, given the space!
  6. M

    Frame storage boxes

    In a perfect world I'd always have the same number of spare bits of kit as frames, but practically there's always more frames than boxes. New frames made up at home waiting to go out to the apiaries, old frames waiting to be cut out/steamed (where the brood box has been scorched and gone back...
  7. M

    Frame storage boxes

    Every winter I end up with frames all over the place as I clean/repair/assemble them, and I never know quite how to manage them. I've got a variety of storage boxes I use, but none of them are quite right - they're either much bigger than they need to be, slightly too small for 10 or 11 frames...
  8. M

    Closing up weak mini-nucs again after mating?

    Thanks! I assumed it'd be fine (after all they're in due to the rain for the next few days anyway!). I'll get them closed up later and use them next week. :thanks:
  9. M

    Closing up weak mini-nucs again after mating?

    I've got 4 or 5 apideas which have mated queens in them - but they are suffering from wasp attacks and are low on numbers. The weather this weekend is pretty terrible so I don't have time to do the inspections/queen removal/caging & requeening to get the queens into their new homes, and I'm...
  10. M

    Apidea suppliers?

    They seem to sell lots of mating hives, but not actually apideas... unless I'm missing something? I've used lots of different ones, but in this case am looking for apideas for the extra brood/super box that allows overwintering.
  11. M

    Apidea suppliers?

    I was just talking to someone about apideas and was wondering what the going rate was for them these days... I've previously used beequipped, but their website seems to be down (and archive.org says it's been down since late last year). A quick hunt around for other suppliers (and there aren't...
  12. M

    moving queen cells to an incubator

    I lost a batch of queens in May to cold weather after the bees moved off then and clustered - didn't realise until after they failed to emerge in apideas - hence my interest in playing with an incubator!
  13. M

    moving queen cells to an incubator

    Ivey managed to acquire a small incubator and am keen to try raising some queen cells using it. I've been struggling to find some detail on when to move the cells across though - some places say day 14 (i.e close to emerging) while others say day 8 (after capping). The former seems to be to get...
  14. M

    Bees focusing on supers after splits

    So in the end I decided to clear out half the supers - leaving them one for backup stores due to the ongoing rain. I've moved the other supers up to the top box, which has a higher proportion of nurse bees who should be able to finish them off. I did consider shaking some of the young bees...
  15. M

    Bees focusing on supers after splits

    I think that might have something to do with it - however the last colony I saw this in (today) had gone through the full set of snelgrove door rotations to bleed down bees - though that obviously still only bleeds flying bees, not young nurses, and with the rain we've had all week maybe less...
  16. M

    Bees focusing on supers after splits

    Something I've seen on and off over the years, and never found a good solution for, so I thought I ask what the rest of you do in this situation... Afer completing a split (and this seems to happen for me more with Snelgrove than with Pagden) the bees seem to focus on working the supers, often...
  17. M

    Cheap pans for frame cleaning/wax rendering

    Nisbets (catering suppliers) have Gastronorm pans on sale just now, as well as free delivery until the end of December. https://www.nisbets.co.uk/kitchenware-and-knives/food-storage/stainless-steel-gastronorms/gastronorm-pans/_/a33-4 The 1/1 pans are big enough to take BS and 14x12 frames (get...
  18. M

    Midwinter colony cutout

    You know, I'd honestly never made that connection before! :laughing-smiley-014 :scotland-flag:
  19. M

    Midwinter colony cutout

    So I went along yesterday (And took another couple of beekeepers from the local association with me) to se what could be done. The bees were in an old stone chimney flue in an abandoned stable block from the 1820s, which is now being renovated. Unfortunately the colony had to be removed as the...
  20. M

    Midwinter colony cutout

    Just had contact from someone who is doing renovation work and has found an established colony in an old chimney flue, and needs them removed ASAP (have seen some picks, and it's definitely honey bees on wild comb). I've asked for more info as to size, accessibility etc, but although I've done...
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