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Got up at the crack of dawn and moved the hives down to the farm! All went well!

I call mine Poly and ASBO

Nevermind. I read the post again.

Got all plans in place to move them the 3.4 miles or so to their new orchard home. My bee landlady was unhappy that I am taking both colonies but she has been promised some more well behaved bees for her gorgeous garden. Just got to work the bank hol then Tuesday AM is move time! First time...

I am sure I have mentioned it before. I have had two suits from Simon and both malfunctioned in exactly the same way. Zips failing during inspections/apiary stuff. Both times resulted in stings in unpleasant places. They refused to replace the second one so I made it into rags and bought one...

Haven't been able to get into my bees for over a week. Hoping to do so today but will have to wait for the workmen to bugger off. (Don't fancy leaving them with the dog). Put MAQs on both colonies last Tuesday so they need taking off. Poly is going to need supering the rate they're going. They...

I would say that is definitely not true. My hives are very close (10ft or less) from a HUGE sycamore tree and they are all over it when it flowers. Same with the apple, pear and plum trees within a few feet of the hives. The bees are all over those when they flower too. The pears were still...

We have loads of it round here too. All over the marshy land and about 4 miles both sides of a stream on the common. Knotweed too. We do have some groups who go Balsam Bashing but they don't seem to realise that by doing that they help to spread the seeds and so it comes back bigger and more...

Hello :welcome: I'm near Wigan so not too far from you. My advice is ask questions and read everything you can! Good luck!

Managed to inspect the cedar colony with the help of Greg. Today they were lovely in stark contrast to yesterday! I got stung again on the same hand as yesterday! Wall to wall brood in stunning patterns in both colonies and spotted both queens. Sadly both colonies are suffering with varroa...

Not mine, I just looked into it during my many years of research before I got started. I did wonder why there weren't more companies selling it. But then I guess it would be a monthly fee which would be substantially more expensive.

Yeah I read it wrong. I have one warm I work from the back and one cold I work from the side.

In my initial research I did look into it and it seems like BDI really do have the lions share of the market. I would also like to know if there are any other reputable companies/schemes

A couple of queen pics for you. One marked and a couple unmarked. The last one is an interesting one if you can spot the odd thing about it. Dunno if they help?

:welcome: it will be nice to see how things go in Italy for you. As you say different parts of the UK have their own climates so things can be hugely different. I hope you enjoy your bees and keep us posted!

That is warm way isn't it?

I wasn't very good at spotting queens when I first started last year either. I got a lot of practice due to the asbo hive going through 4 queens in as many months! The trick I was taught is look for the LEGS. Once you can spot the legs you will find it surprisingly easy, or at least I do...

I hived my overwintered nuc yesterday and made it eleven frames, three one side and two the other. This is a poly so I didn't see the need for extra insulation. Their little Queen is a superstar and I imagine they will fill it pretty quick. Funnily enough I run one hive warm way and one cold...

Successfully hived the nuc who behaved impeccably. Lovely brood pattern and beautiful temperament. Left them to guide their sisters in. Opened up the other colony and they went absolutely ballistic. Straight on the attack! Got stung twice so quickly put the hive back together and walked away...

Noticed yesterday on my lunch break that out of seemingly nowhere there are dandelions everywhere! Nice and warm today so I am going to transfer the nuc into their full sized poly brood. They're definitely ready for it! Loads of willow in flower all around the apiary too. I was hoping to put...