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So I have a small swarm in a poly nuc...great ! Went to give them a welcoming feed and discovered that they're so far largely ignoring the foundation; are only slightly interested in some old comb (possibly cleaning out the cells)....but absolutely love the built in (empty) feeder, so much so...

We've been fortunate watching a nest of gold finches in our garden, progressing successfully with fledglings leaving nest just this morning. Wonderful! One fledgling landed in a laurel bush, and stayed in the same spot for nearly an hour. A short while later a magpie flew overhead, and I'd...

The sunny weather yesterday was my trigger to go and inspect my small swarm from last year, especially as the forecast for the rest of the week indicated chillier temperatures. I knew they'd made it through the winter (pleased I'd re-homed them from a wooden hive to a poly nuc), and so took...

I've always preferred a hands on approach to learning...learning by doing. Less keen on learning by numbers, eg bullet point chapters from a book, which although great for background, doesn't suit (my) all styles of learning. So are there any recommendations for practicalcourses/trg on queen...

I've been asked to remove a colony that has lived in a chimney stack for several years. Thankfully scaffolding is in place so I can at least get to the bees ! I've done a recce, and the bees are occupying what looks like the top part of the chimney stack (the cowl has been removed and the...

I've been given access to a narrow strip of field, about 300 yards long, and can put 'as many hives as I like' there.... which is a great offer. But due to the width, I can only really keep the hives in a single line....so I'm trying to determine how many hives I can reasonably go to.....but...

Thoughts please.... I've had a brood and a half, with an extra super on top separated by a queen excluder..... ( I also did a split on this colony a few months back). All is good, however, the top super has been hardly touched, whereas the 'lower' super is quite full with mostly capped honey...

A little early to be talking about swarms....but has anyone used a swarm trap..are they any good.....do they work?

Reading Ted Hooper recently, I noted he only made reference to feeding syrup at a ratio of 2:1.......can't see any reference to 1:1.......so whats the collective wisdom on this? My understanding is that 2:1 is generally for winter feeding,with 1:1 for spring build up, but the fact that Ted does...

I've bought a (Tho%^es)micro mating nuc, with the intention of rearing my own queen(s) next season. - One of my colonies is so good I'd like to keep the line going - I'm planning to take a small section of new brood,with a good cup full of bees and relocate them into the mini nuc, feed...

Can anyone advise on whether its ok to feed golden syrup (or sometimes called corn syrup). I understand its a higher quality syrup, meaning less work for the bees....I've asked locally, but the best answer I can get is "dunno...give it a try".....but i'd rather not if there is any potential...