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Thanks all, rightly or wrongly I’ve extracted. Refractometer on its way. Convenient day off work with not another one without plans for a good few weeks. I may regret it when the refractometer arrives but hopefully it’ll be ok.

Thanks - did you have any issues with fermentation?

Quite possibly. They were absolutely booming in terms of bees and I didn’t want them to swarm - this was demareed so one of the supers described is, in fact, a brood box. All part of the learning curve. My intention of stopping them from swarming has worked so positives and negatives.

4 supers on, 3 full of nectar/honey with the bottom one starting to lose weight. Top one partially drawn but little progress recently. They’re next to 15 acres of meadows which are currently awash with buttercups - not seeing any yellow pollen though. Very little in the hedgerows now as the...

Thanks, there’s definitely some OSR in there for sure. Doesn’t seem to have been any progress on the capping for the last couple of weeks despite more than enough bees. Seems a bit strange? Some frames in lowest super being consumed rather than filled further.

Hi all, I’ve got a hive with a number of supers of spring honey on. They’ve had access to OSR. Flow appears to have stopped and if anything, they’ve lost some weight. All of the supers have a reasonable amount of honey in them but they’re barely capped. Absolutely no drops at all on a...

Thanks folks, Sadly can’t get back to the hives until Monday/Tuesday so will put them on Monday and extract Tuesday. Rhombus boards. Thanks!

Hello, I’m just trying to work out timings for super clearing. I’m planning to extract on Tuesday. Would putting clearer boards on today be too early and problematic? I assume there is an increased risk of crystallisation if there isn’t warmth from bees on the frames? Thanks

Thanks all, I’ve got spare foundation and boxes. I think I’ll do as some have said and take the ‘ripe’ frames and extract and condense the frames that aren’t ready down. I suppose I’ll then probably have to super up quite rapidly when the brambles get going seeing as there is a towers worth...

I would ideally do one extraction but could happily clear over a longer period as above. Currently trying to judge ripeness vs crystallisation

Hi all, Looking at taking off a Spring crop over the next few weeks. I’d be grateful for your advice on hive configuration. I currently have a national hive with a single brood box, QE, then 4 supers (almost full) and a brood box on top (demaree’d - full of nectar). These boxes are rammed with...

Sorry to pick this up again, but the weather for next week down here doesn’t look good for beekeeping. I could go back in tomorrow which is day 5-6 but otherwise with the weather and work it’s looking like day 13-14. I assume I’m best to go in tomorrow and take anything down that resembles a...

Thank you! Would you go in on day 4-5 and take anything down that they’ve made up to that point or just go in asap after day 7? Thanks

Hi All, I did my first Demaree today on a booming colony. Due to work commitments, I’m not going to be able to go into the hive between day 6 and day 9 after today. I’d ideally like to make some nucs assuming they draw out some queen cells in the top box. Will doing this on day 5 work, or...

Just done my first Demaree. Absolute sky scraper. Wishing the hive was on the floor as opposed to a stand now and considering rigging guy ropes. Going to make some splits using cells if they draw any out in the top boxes (it was double brood).

Hah an accidental one! Angry bees (raining) but needs must. Wearing a jacket rather than my normal full suit. Rode up to expose a little too much and one got underneath the hem. Lesson learnt

Went to put a spare frame of stores in one of my hives that is booming but rather light - don’t want any starvation issues to arise before weather improves next week. Took a sting to the belly button. New one for me. Seemingly much worse than the ones to the hands. Very much looking forward...

Hoping to inspect after work tomorrow. Slightly on the cooler side (12-13 degrees) but it’s been 10 days of rain and single figure temperatures so need to get into them. Going very much armed with a poly nuc for the inevitable. Although I’m very much just hoping they’re bumbling along nicely...

I was down near the bees today so thought I’d pop in. Too cold to do any inspecting of the brood, but I couldn’t resist lifting the lid. They’re now just starting to draw a second super. First is pretty much full. I was pleasantly surprised at this given that the weather has continued to be...

Thanks all, this is reassuring as my queen finding skills need some work. Sadly I don’t have any drawn comb to spare. We’ll see how we get on.