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One of my six hives has turned genuinely nasty over the last month — followed me 30 meters to the shed last week, stings through the suit, neighbors starting to comment. …
Ontario, second year, 4 hives. One colony has been queenless for a while — my fault, a requeen attempt failed and by the time I admitted it they were down to maybe 3 fram…
Yorkshire, first year, so please be gentle. My stronger hive swarmed two weeks ago (my fault, missed the cells) and I left it to requeen itself with the cells that remain…
İzmir, second year. My strong colony swarmed in mid-June despite my efforts (lesson logged) and I let them requeen themselves. I actually saw the new queen emerge from he…
Quebec, five years in, and I'm planning next spring's queen orders already because winter here is the final exam. My results so far: Italians build huge beautiful colonie…
Follow-up for everyone who talked me off the ledge. Made a walk-away split June 9th with eggs, young larvae, and plenty of nurse bees. Checked day 21: nothing. Checked da…
Third-year keeper in Uppsala and I finally tried grafting on Wednesday. Results are in: 3 accepted cells out of 20 grafts. I'm weirdly proud of the 3 but obviously want t…
Ontario second-year with a sinking feeling. Ordered a mated queen to requeen my grumpy hive; she shipped Monday in a standard cage with attendants and a candy plug, was s…
Something for the pure joy of it. A researcher friend visited my Tuscany apiary and brought a ridiculous rig: a fishing pole with a caged drone and a queen-pheromone lure…
Second year keeping bees in Galway and my nerves are in tatters. Colony swarmed at the end of May, I left one good cell, and I watched the virgin emerge on the 4th of Jun…
Skåne, 8 years, and this winter I finally read Mel Disselkoen's OTS (On The Spot) queen rearing material properly instead of absorbing it via forum osmosis. The core mech…
İzmir, 2nd year. Installed a package in mid-April, queen got going okay — not spectacular, laying was a bit patchy but there was steady brood. Today's inspection: two fat…
Ontario, 2nd year. My overwintered colony went queenless (confirmed, no eggs 10 days, started a test frame). New mated queen arrived Tuesday, I hung the cage between broo…
Yorkshire, first year, learning bee math the hard way. Everyone says queen: egg day 0, cell capped day 8, emerges day 16 give or take one. So here's my problem. I found c…
Vermont, second year, three strong hives and I want a fourth. Option A: walk-away split — free, but the bee math scares me. Split with eggs today, they raise an emergency…
Midwinter here in Mpumalanga — dry season, aloes flowering, my scutellata colonies ticking over nicely. But I lost one last month to something most of the Northern folks …
Third season, four hives in Kent. This spring I finally started marking queens (white for 2026, got the posca pen, very pleased with myself) and it's transformed my inspe…
Second year, three hives near İzmir. Opened hive two yesterday evening and the sound was different — not the usual even hum but louder, higher, kind of an unsettled roar …
Third year in North Carolina. One of my five colonies has been queenless nine days (my fault, rolled her), no laying workers yet, and I've got a mated Italian queen shipp…
Went in today, found a tidy laying pattern and single eggs standing up in the cells. Never actually saw her majesty though. Safe to assume I'm queenright? I really don't …
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