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I started keeping bees six years ago and like many beginners, I wanted to increase the number of hives. I am now finding I have too many and am selling on a good selection of essentials - Queen Excluder x5 Supers x5 (3 with drawn foundation) (pine) Brood Box x4 (cedar) Oxalic acid vapouriser...

I took a massive crop of honey in early August - I harvested earlier than normal as I had 5 supers on each hive and the bees were running out of room and I had no more supers to give them. Having extracted the honey I gave each hive a super to give them a little space. The supers are now filled...

I've just done an inspection of my hives (9th October) and found two queens in one hive. I can't tell whether the new queen has mated but assume that the bees have decided it was time to replace the existing queen. It was 20 degrees today and is forecast to be even warmer tomorrow. Plenty of...

I've did an artificial swarm on a hive about a month ago. I notice that both the hives now have a huge amount of honey in the brood boxes. The queen in the Q+ hive has hardly any room to lay. The Q- half is almost wall to wall honey. Both halves of the original hive have two supers. I extracted...

Like many people here I have split my hives (artificial swarm) to prevent swarming. I keep on reading comments that say splitting the hive only delays swarming and that they still have the swarming instinct and leave eventually. I've found new queen cells in the Q+ half of a couple of...

I last inspected my hives 8 days ago and noticed that the bees in the strongest hives were just starting to make the beginnings of Queen cells. Today, as soon as the sun came out the bees started clustering around the hive. The noise suggested something was afoot so I quickly got suited up and...

On Sunday's episode (you can listed again on the iPlayer) there was the following dialogue: Jill Archer: I've had colony collapse in one of my hives Kirsty: oh no. Any idea why? Jill: I was a bit worried about it going into winter. I should have given them more sugery feed...... When I opened...

16 degrees here yesterday so took a peek inside the hives. One in particular (which was last year's biggest producer) is off to a good start. It is a double BB - the top box has 4 frames of honey then 4 of brood, eggs larvae - then more honey. Downstairs there are 3 frames of broom directly...

Wouldn't it be great to have someone here who is in charge and can give a bit of day to day guidance... a bit like the BBKA article that covers the coming month.. It shouldn't be too difficult for us to all agree on our favorite contributor to post their daily activities and thoughts on what...

What can you deduce from the inspection tray? ... apart from the number of varroa? I had my inspection trays in all four hives to assess the number of varroa - there were few, just one or two thankfully. Does anyone pay any attention to the amount and pattern of the fine wax that falls...

I have four hives - two big strong colonies with loads of stores and two I'm concerned about. I have clear crown boards on all four - I've noticed that the bees in two colonies which are noticeably lighter are clustered just beneath the crown board. On the other two hives, the heavier ones...

A lovely sunnny day today - 9 degrees Two of my hives are looking like they are busy - a few bees around the entrance and a few flying. The other two however are very quiet. Last time I hefted the hives (in October) they all felt like they were nailed down to the stand (an expression I once...

I only began bee keeping this year but when I am asked how long I have been doing it I often say that bee keeping is in my blood - people assume that I come from a long line of beekeepers, but I explain that beekeeping is literally in my blood by virtue of the many stings I receive. My bees are...

I was poking around the hives today and noticed that there were Bees clustering under the wire mesh on one of the hives. The cluster is about 5cms deep and 20-30cms across. Not much activity.. just sitting there. The hive has a double brood box. Lots of ivy round here. Hive very active. I...

My skylights are splattered in bee poo. The windows on my house have been hit. My cars are covered and the neighbours are all looking to the sky and wondering what on earth it could be on their cars and windows... .... well, I'm not telling them as I'm sure they will work it out. This is a new...

My skylights are splattered in bee poo. The windows on my house have been hit. My cars are covered and the neighbours are all looking to the sky and wondering what on earth it could be on their cars and windows... .... well, I'm not telling them as I'm sure they will work it out. This is a new...

So far my first year bee keeping is going OK. I began in the spring with four colonies and still have four colonies ... and a little honey. So I'm happy with that. All four of my hives are double brood box - one of them has a full super which the bees seem to be slow to cap. I'd like advice on...

I have four hives which have been pretty clam all year. In the last couple of weeks though two of them have gone mad - a whole new level of aggression.. I have two hives that seem not to even notice I'm there when I do an inspection. If a bee gets accidentally squished they buzz a bit louder...

I was reading Robbo's thread on swarmy bees which I have also experienced... It occurred to me that if bee keepers catch and/or keep swarms, isn't this going to enforce the swarming trait. Wouldn't the sensible thing to do be kill the Queen that swarmed and requeen from another less swarmy...

My bees are storing plenty of honey but they are storing it in the brood box(s) more than the supers. A couple of my hives are double BB nationals. The lower BB is filling up with honey and the outside frames of the higher BB and full of stores. Some honey makes it to the supers but only a...