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PSA post, because I nearly talked myself out of acting this week. Inspecting my Willamette Valley hives on Sunday I spotted two bees with the classic K-wing posture on th…
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…
First year, two hives in Minnesota, and I have a confession: I've seen my marked queen exactly twice since April. Every video says "make sure the colony is queenright" an…
Central Texas here, 8 hives, and the tap turned off about ten days ago like it always does. Last year I missed it and fed too late, so this year I wrote myself an actual …
Quick report from the Valensole plateau: the lavandin has been open about ten days and my 30 hives that I moved up here at the end of June are absolutely hammering it. Su…
Minnesota, first year, two hives, and I walked out this morning to something awful: hundreds, maybe more, of dead and twitching bees in front of both hives. Many have the…
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…
We hit 36C this week and I got the top-bar keeper's summer tax: one fresh comb, heavy with nectar, folded off its bar in the afternoon heat. Seven years in and it still h…
Ontario, second year but first time raising a colony from a nuc instead of inheriting a going concern. Picked up a 5-frame nuc mid-May, it hit a full deep by mid-June, I …
Third year in Uppsala and I'm noticing a trend I don't love. Year one, stings were a red bump for a day. Last year, hand stings puffed for two days. This spring a sting o…
Fifth season in Małopolskie, up to 12 production colonies now, all mediums for honey. Extraction weekend is coming and my cold knife and I are not friends. Half my combs …
Galway, second year, two hives, and the west of Ireland is doing its thing: forecast is drizzle every day I'm off work for the next week. I'm due an inspection — it's bee…
Mid-winter here in Victoria and I did my July checks on a mild still day: quick look under the crown boards, hefted for stores, and pulled the centre frame on two of my s…
Devon, fourth year, strongest colony I've ever run. Inspection today: little queen cups along the bottom bars and comb edges on practically every other frame — I counted …
Third year, first serious attempt at foundationless, and I earned the classic punishment: the bees ignored my starter strips and built one glorious sheet of comb diagonal…
Vermont, second year, and my weaker colony is throwing two different kinds of gross at me and I can't tell what I'm looking at. Thing one: hard white and some grey-black …
Sharing because this nearly became a fence war. My two hives decided the neighbour's pool was the finest water source in Kent. Dozens of bees on the pool edge daily, a fe…
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…
I feel absolutely sick. First year, two hives, and today during inspection a frame slipped out of my grip and fell about a foot onto the top bars of the box before slidin…
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