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If they do have EFB then I'd also be concerned that the supplier may be distributing affected colonies. James

I agree. I think the queen is gone. Looks like they've tried to make an emergency queen cell in several places. I've never seen a "live" case of EFB, only in photos, but I'd be concerned that's what you might have from looking at the first photo. James

I still have the hornet queen thinking about making a new home in my bee shed. She doesn't seem to like the door being open though, so I've left it open this afternoon and we'll see if she gets the message. I've also noticed that there's a huge spider under the ridge at that end of the shed...

Absolutely. My wife made mine from the sleeves of an old beekeeping jacket. It's a huge boost to confidence knowing that nothing is going to crawl up inside one's cuffs. James

Rather apposite, given the news today. James

Only if they haven't met me :D James

Though in small numbers they're always present. James

Trophyllaxis? James

Sometimes, "Because I can" is not a sufficiently good answer to the question "Why?" James

It's a joke :) James

Our Thyme is in flower at the moment and getting regular visits from honey bees. That's my varroa treatment sorted for this year them :D James

Hah! Snap! Had a near-miss with a queen hornet this evening, actually. She nearly took my head off when I went to the bee shed to get some frame runners for some new brood boxes. I added some triangular gussets to the underside of the ridge to strengthen the roof when I reassembled it a...

My trap at home has been very quiet for a week or so. Then today it has suddenly become very active. One possible reason is that the colony I found queen cells in at the weekend is still thinking about swarming. However, it also looks as though there are bees heading through my orchard in...

Perhaps I should spray some on my veil when I'm working the more "lively" colonies :D James

These days I barely use mine at all. Mostly just to move the bees off the tops of the boxes during reassembly I'd say. James

It's like trying to do a very sticky jigsaw without a picture to help whilst people try to stick pins in your hands :D James

One of the later questions was "Those sort of frame things inside the box. What's in the middle of them?" "It's comb, made of wax" "Where do they get that from?" If I'd said that the bees raid artists' stores and fly off with boxes of crayons, would that make me a bad person? James

Oh come now... Wild comb is such fun to sort out. James

I had a call from someone in a nearby-ish village this afternoon. They had a swarm in their garden and were wondering if I had any kit they could keep it in. A novel start to a swarm call, certainly. At this point I was thinking they don't have a clue how much you have to pay for a hive these...

Went to an apiary this afternoon to put some clearer boards on hives. Normally I have to drive through a small pasture to get to the hives, but today it was full of sheep and I couldn't open the gate and get the car through without risking escapees. I had to carry stuff about 100 yards from...