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Honeyfields bee farm just emailed out some job vacancies: Honeyfields

I think it's a hybrid - symphoricarpos x chenaultii http://www.makaques.com/gallery.php?sp=2339

Some of us don't treat at all these days. 👀

The summer nectar flows are coming to an end now so the bees won't draw much new comb. You might be lucky and have the hive near some balsam? (found along rivers/damp areas) otherwise it's dribs and drabs until the ivy flowers. Not really warm enough for clover currently. They will need feeding...

Any recommendations for particular varieties of persicaria (for the bees)? Been wanting to get some there's too many to choose from.

Seen a few bees working the clover in the garden for the first time today, forecast is still cool though so I don't think they'll make much of it. Bramble is 80-90% done here so it'll be slim pickings soon with just the garden flowers and whatever wildflowers manage escape the farmer's topper.

Why is the hive so quiet? Are you sure that you've not got a hornets nest in there? 😅 I would reduce right down to a couple of cm as below. Wasps will rob that out in no time otherwise.

I would lever each frame up individually using a J tool, or even two J tools to do both sides together. Although it can be slightly alarming when you can't get the boxes apart, it's usually easier than you expect to sort out. Just take your time, do a bit on one side, bit on the other and ease...

What have you stained those with Ian?

I measured the internal frame area. National: (336*189)*11=698,544 Lang: (425*206)*8= 700,400

Just throwing it out there as an idea. Some people want all the honey in the supers. No idea how prolific the queen is, or if there is abundant forage in the vicinity. 🤷‍♂️

8 langstroth brood frames have the same comb area as 11 national brood frames. So treat it as you would a national hive. Many queens will need more than a single national brood, but you can always use extra dummy boards if you feel that the double is too big. You many find they don't lay up the...

What a great result - congrats!

Had a similar experience last week. Prime swarm decided to move into the single nuc on the bottom (occupied, but very weak after winter) instead of the lovely empty double nuc directly above it 🤦‍♂️Had to add a brood extension in the evening just so get them all inside. Queen now happily laying...

I know, and I'm sure it works well enough when you can look for royal jelly in cells on a shorter inspection cycle. But on 9 day inspections your losses are going to increase quite a bit I would have thought.

I wondered the same thing when I first read his book. He also mentions that he often only hinges the boxes up and checks the bottom of the frames for queen cells, which would obviously make spotting the early signs of swarm prep even more difficult. I presumed that the few additional losses he...

You can move it a few meters without doing any harm, just try and keep it facing the same direction/same height, they usually prefer to face south-ish. I would hang it on the wall a couple of meters away from the current spot to stop them flying into the house by accident.

I would also recommend making a long hive to take 14x12 national frames (Dartington style). The bees can still draw out free comb inside the frames - I usually alternate between frames of foundation and foundationless frames, which keeps the combs nice and straight. The ability to...

What a rubbish article. They quote a perfectly good definition of raw honey in the second paragraph (“honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling or straining without adding heat”) and then proceed to waffle on about other less satisfactory definitions, botulism and...

Snowdrops and Aconites just opening in North Oxfordshire. Snowdrops about 7-10 days ahead of the Aconites.