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At last! Honey! Harvested our first honey. 28 lbs of the stuff. Not bad for a first effort from one urban hive, less than a mile from Big Ben. And it tastes heavenly! Like rosewater. Thank you, neighbours. :thanks::thanks::thanks::thanks:

Dlq? Pretty convinced that my second hive has a DLQ. Last couple of inspections seem to show just capped drone cells. Can't find the queen. Having read previous replies to this thread, I'm inclined to throw all the bees out, transfer a frame or two with visible eggs from my healthy hive, and...

Thanks for the prompt response. I'll go ahead a treat them...either first thing tomorrow or later today when most of the bees will be back in the hive.

Oxalic acid with brood present? Planned to put an oxalic acid treatment on today, but when I inspected the hive, I saw quite a few uncapped brood on one of the frames, and maybe a couple of dozen capped cells. Not surprised, as the bees have been quite active throughout December, bringing back...

Free mouse excluder...SE11 Anyone with a NATIONAL hive in SE11 want a free mouse guard? We ordered one for our WBC through Amazon, and were sent the wrong sort. Not worth returning, so free to a good home. Or hive...

Thanks for these responses, MM and others. Yes, it would have been helpful if the instructions with the Apiguard had been more comprehensive. I'd only have given them a half dose this time. I suppose we should have realised something was amiss when we saw workers disposing of dead brood. I take...

Applied Apiguard on 15 August, to a newish colony (no supers). The girls didn't like it at all...for several days afterwards they were carrying dead brood from the hive, and at one point seemed to be threatening to swarm. A quick look inside the hive a few days later (not touching the frames)...

mbc, this is an extremely helpful and considered reply. Thank you for troubling to write in such detail. Bee forum members...the standard has been set.

Hey guys, can we get off the varroa thread, and someone respond to my post? (Larval corpses being removed from the hive, if you need to be reminded).

I'm told that all London beekeepers are treating for varroa at around the same time.

I treated for varroa yesterday. This evening, watching my bees over a beer, i saw around five dead brood being removed from the colony over a period of about an hour. Worker bees were flying off with the corpses, presumably with the intention of disposing of them some distance from the hive. I...

Thanks for this photo, Shane. Just what mine look like. Far fewer this morning...maybe they are sorting themselves out.

I hope they're not planning to swarm...I've only just got them! I saw the queen yesterday, and she was laying happily, so i'd be surprised if she upped and abandoned her babies. But thanks, both, for your reassurance. I'll let you know how I get on.

Tucking the girls up tonight I noticed there were a hundred or so bees clustered under the OMF (WBC). Is this normal? If not, what should I do about it?

This iS therapy!

It's not held with anything...it just slides in. I've Bodged a fix by raising the mesh with some wooden splints. Seems to be working!

Numer?

Usual stuff... Inspected my new (one month old) colony in its WBC hive. Examined all the frames in the brood box (no supers yet). Saw eggs, brood of different sizes, pollen cells, honey, capped brood and honey cells, lots of workers doing their figure of eight dances, drones...and at last THE...

Quite likely. There have been quite a few around this year. They won't harm your bees, even if they manage to enter the hive - unlikely, as those I have seen buzzing around the entrance to my hive are soon sent packing. They mimic a hornet, allowing them to enter a hornet's nest to lay their...

I think I have the same problem. I have a Thornes WBC hive, and the base came pre-assembled. The mesh in the upper slot sags enough to allow bees to enter the hive quite freely...in fact they seem to prefer this to the main entrance! I could stop the sag by sliding in a fillet of wood under...