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Vermont, second year, four colonies on one stand. The smallest one has been limping since September and on Saturday I found it dead — a fist of bees on two frames, no que…
Kent, third year, five colonies. A local breeder had a few late mated queens going and I bought one on impulse, thinking that if a colony turns out queenless in March I'l…
Ontario, second year, three colonies. Last winter I did nothing above the crownboard and got lucky. This year I want emergency feed in place before I need it, and I've be…
Perthshire, seven years. My summer site is a lovely open field that turns into a wind tunnel from November, and 400 metres away there's a corner behind a beech hedge with…
Oregon, fifth year. I lost a small colony in late August to what I'm fairly sure was a mite-driven collapse, and I made the classic mistake of stacking the boxes in the s…
İzmir, second year, three hives. Reading this forum makes me feel like I'm in a different season from everyone else. My neighbours in the north of Europe are wrapping hiv…
Provence, eight years. The honey is sold and the wax bucket is full, so October and November are candle months here. My process, and where I'd like input. Cappings wax ge…
Uppsala, third year, four colonies. I had a quick look under the crownboard on Wednesday because one hive felt oddly light, and while I was in there I saw an unmistakable…
North Carolina, third year, six hives. Beetles were a proper nuisance in August — I had traps in every hive and was still squashing adults on the inner cover every visit.…
Nine years, twelve colonies, all on Simplex double brood through the summer. Most of my neighbours here winter on a single box plus a super of stores, and after two damp …
Galway, second year, three colonies. I've got the winter jitters and I keep wanting to look. My mentor's rule is "nothing above the crownboard after the clocks change", w…
Tuscany, 40 hives, and the extraction room finally goes quiet this week. Every year I put off the clean-down and every year I regret it, because dried honey is glue and d…
Quebec, fifth year, eight hives at the edge of a woodlot. Two winters ago I opened a colony in March to find it dead, no mouse nest, no chewed comb, but a heap of dismemb…
Twenty years in Bavaria, 30 production colonies and a small breeding effort. October is when I actually decide next season's queen programme, not April, and I think that'…
Yorkshire, first year, two colonies. The ivy on the churchyard wall has been humming for a fortnight and both hives have been piling it in. I cracked the crownboard on Su…
Southern hemisphere check-in for the northern folks battening down. We're in full spring here in central Victoria — cold mornings still, but the colonies have exploded ov…
Tyrol, 18 years, 24 colonies at two altitudes. My autumn treatment finished three weeks ago and I now have clean trays under all of them for a seven-day count. I trust th…
First year, two colonies in a double deep each, just outside the Twin Cities. I got my mouse guards and my nerves ready but I have no feel yet for what "heavy enough" mea…
Central Texas, fourth year, twelve colonies. My suit has reached the point where I put it on and the bees are angry before I've opened a box. It's absorbed a season of st…
Hokkaido, fourth year, six hives, and winter is arriving on schedule — nights at 3°C, first snow on the mountains. Doing my final walk-round yesterday I found something o…
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