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Painted up 2 more MB langstroth polyhives and 2 polynucs . Now to get to work on the foundation-less frames… Tempted to swap out the hive stands from last year and paint them in some preservative. They're still solid but look a little sorry for themselves; especially the landing boards.

Built up 3 hive stands (including landing boards and frame holders) for the three new arrivals. Handy having bits of wood left over from rebuilding the garage roof & wood store.

Just finished hiving another swarm that bearded on exactly the same branch as the one that arrived two days earlier. That's three swarms (one of which came from one of my hives) in less than two weeks… There are no more boxes!

Nabbed a swarm which alighted in the cooking apple tree. I checked the three other colonies and they did not look obviously to have had a swarm escape. But the second swarm in 9 days? Coincidence? Now to count the pennies order some more kit… :rolleyes:

Watched a mating flight from a hive whose last-week swarm is happily making comb in the nuc they moved into.

Agreed that I expected they would prefer the brood box (they did last time: I have a timelapse of them piling out of the Nuc and straight into the full-sized brood). However; they've gone for the Nuc this time. I've had a peak and they seem happy enough… I'll keep an eye on them.

Yup; Queen Margaret (head of a swarm that moved in at the end of June last year - bait hives are wonderful things) has attempted to offski as of about midday today. As luck would have it they bearded on (well, completely covered) a 3 year old crabapple in the back garden. I've been coaxing...

Made up some of HM's Thymol Oil (soaked in into kitchen towels) and applied them today; saw my first 'wild' Varroa Destructor a few hours later when taking a peak at the boards. Aisha's hive is taking the treatment (and feeding) very well. Margaret's is making much more of a fuss - though I also...

Looks like it is public domain: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apis_mellifera_scutellata_1355021.jpg Interesting that it is also an example of Africanised Honey Bees :)

Watched the bees working through the acrylic inner covers today; shifting nectar, drawing wax and putting propolis all over the shop. Also spotted a few bees that were crawling rather than flying (obviously couldn't fly as they tried at every peak). Just got the microscope down to check for...

Naming HM just seemed easier than constantly referring to "The one in that corner" or "The one next to the garage" :) Agreed; full beesuit in this weather makes for wet work.

Checked out the hives again today. HM Margaret - the swarm - looking good but with only 1 frame of wax drawn they might have to be shuftied into a nuc when/if the weather cools. Saw Queen Margaret herself and managed to get her into a hairclip trap only for her to scarper back to a cluster when...

Dusty; if you need another pair of hands sometime: I'm happy to help out (free outside of office hours generally). I live in Withington.

Lunch break inspections. :) Inspected the first colony (H.M. Aisha): brood box full of everything but very little expansion into the next box up. BIAS, plenty of stores etc. Removed some brace comb they had started to fill with nectar. Inspected the swarm-into-a-bait-hive (H.M Margaret)...

Uploaded a time-lapse of the swarm from yesterday. Seems I can't post links but if you head to y-tube and search for "ZCUdvC0trMc", it'll appear. It's not great quality (rear PTZ CCTV dome) but you can see them bearding up about halfway through just before the second hive appears. Interestingly...

Pre lunch swarm I was sat working in my home office (translation: on a beanbag in the garden) this morning. At about 11:30 I got up to get a glass of water and spotted what looked like a cloud of flies about 6 gardens down from me. Turns out it was a *huge* swarm and they were heading straight...

I know the MDBKA have some starting from March onwards: http://www.mdbka.com/calendar.html

Hi Guys, Are there any locals (South Manchester area) who would be willing to sell a Nuc or two for this year? Looking to start for March-April time if possible. If they're Langstroth sized brood frames, that'd be awesome. I'm waiting to hear back from the MDBKA about what members have what...

Hi VM, Thanks for the advice :) I've been getting a bit of handling experience from my father (a relatively new beekeeper in Thorpe, Chertsey) to supplement my reading; that's what renewed my interest. I had read about keeping bees when I was in primary school and would have done so then if my...

Hi Alan, Thanks for the advice; I've signed up to their website and hope to attend the beginners course next year. I'm also doing a lot of reading; there's plenty of material to go through!