Search results

All good for you southern folk! We're busy lambing but I managed to get a quick 20 minutes while we had a brief and strangely weird warm front between fronts of freezing rain. I dare not delve in the hives, but they had made inroads to the comb of stores I had put above their CB's. So I...

Sheep farmer here. The gun down the back is for cypermethrin fly killer. It can definitely be used from late spring onwards through late autumn to combat fly strike, so before shearing July/August. Withdrawal times have to be observed for shearing because you're not allowed to present treated...

Thanks that explains a lot! I have been too afraid of upsetting them by rearranging things, otherwise would have got rid of brood and half a long time ago.

Thanks all. I'll have another look In a few weeks. -2 here today🙄 I'm at a real disadvantage because I do not have new drawn brood comb, only foundation. So yes there would be a lot of work involved on the bees' part. I am not a fan of modified Bailey because with brood and a half it means...

Further to a question I'd asked about Bailey comb changes, I really really want to go to the apiary, set up a nice clean floor and brood box full of new frames with new foundation and a clean CB and roof, next to a hive needing brood frames scrapped. The bees are all in the super with stores. I...

Had a break yesterday from scorching, filling, replacing and repairing . . . decided to do some painting. Supers are just whatever colour is to hand, but I like to do scenes on the brood boxes. Paint supplies are low, just blue, green, white and orange. Koi!

Are you doing changes now? Advice needed, I need to replace all brood comb in 2 Brood+Half colonies. Its absolutely black and so old that some of the tabs on the frames are starting to rot 😱. Both colonies still have plenty of stores in their super and no activity in the empty brood comb. I've...

I've used the tubs before but find dead bees, either in collapsed bits of fondant or drowned in sticky stuff. Tried putting objects in to help them pull themselves out. Just a mess. Possibly compounded by excess humidity as I used to leave the inspection boards in, not now on forum advice. This...

Thanks for explaining how they think. Will do as you say next Spring. No QE between, it is stored under the CB. To answer a previous question, I leave the BB because I have OMF and the hives are on rails about 16" off the ground. Not a good position, they get the north wind so I think it helps...

Thanks, I did leave the supers on until shutting them down. Their super ( brood and a half) is packed but nothing was put in the BB below. Not very hopeful, these 3 swarmed when I was dealing multiple bereavements and just had to tough it out until October.

How do you fwed honey back to bees on winter? I have full frames of wonky comb. The hives are shut down - 2" kingspan on the crownboards.

The temperature has reached 10C today so I expected to see a little bit of activity. Incredibly one of the hives is going like a fair! Plenty of bees hovering about the front facing the hive so I presume these are new bees, but what on earth are the rest of them doing? They seem to be flying...

I just use a sash cramp and screws.

Made myself, solid boards with roofing felt.

Nothing above, just the roof. No vents.

Solid wooden CB

I put fleece in old pillowcases last winter and it was absolutely soaked when I took it out in Spring. Not impressed.

Just wondering if as said, freezing kills wax moth - I store kit in an unheated caravan, or stacked in the apiary. Surely over winter the freezing weather would do the same job as a chest freezer?

I can sympathise. No matter how small the item I want to order from Thornes I pay £20 in postage. Absolutely ridiculous and they won't send through the royal mail. Anyway they have had sales in the past of seconds or thirds. I wouldn't recommend it for crates because a lot of the wood is...

Similar here one summer. Massive swarm, easily shook and marching in as you say. Then out. Out, in. Then out a day later. Because, I think, stupid here had an eke on made from teak scraps. Naturally " insect repellent". I wasn't long at beekeeping as you can see, grossly underestimated the...