Some equinoctial thoughts on success and failure in beekeeping, and attempts to understand my woefully poor queen mating this year. Mating occurs in drone congregation areas (DCAs) … or does it? A…

Apiaries had modest impacts on heathland plant–pollinator communities, likely buffered by the abundance of Calluna vulgaris which provides 91% of landscape nectar during hive introductions. We recomm...

Looked after properly, beekeeping equipment should last for years. Looked after improperly, it will need to be repaired … but will also last for years. Here are some fixes to major damage and minor…

Tropilaelaps in Turkey, recent studies of the complexity of the waggle dance, and (yet more studies on) the influence of queen cup size on the size of the resulting queens. Bigger is not always…

Why choose fondant, where to buy it, and how to use it. Save money by using fondant to feed your bees in autumn, and — perhaps more important — make your beekeeping easier.

When, why and how to take pre- and post-treatment mite counts, and what to do with the numbers. Is it routinely needed, and when should you definitely do it? And if you thought that was confusing,…

A variety of late-season queen-related topics; finding, missing, marking, judging, and clipping them … together with discussions of some DIY 'mods' that make all these things easier. All that, plus…

Licensed miticides, used correctly, are very effective at controlling mite infestations which would otherwise kill the colony. However, the manufacturer’s instructions for miticide use are often…

Winter preparations should start during late-summer colony checks. With thorough preparation, the right colonies, low levels of pathogens and ample stores, losses should be very low, giving you — and…

Thymol-containing miticides offer many advantages (no mite resistance or wax-soluble residues) but must be used properly to be effective. Temperatures are critical, and high brood levels may…

Slow-release oxalic acid (OA) strips are for use on colonies rearing brood, in contrast to one-shot trickled or vaporised OA. Are they an effective solution for winter treatment when predicting…

Everything you wanted to know about honey supers but were afraid to ask. Adding, managing, removing, lifting, extracting, nadiring, storing … along with anything else I can think of.

Why tolerate poor quality bees? Simple positive and negative selection strategies can produce significant improvements in colony behaviour. However, increased productivity and pathogen resistance…

Midseason activities include managing late-swarming, rearing queens for overwintering in nucs, and making the best of the summer nectar flows … and, if that wasn't enough, there's the winter ahead to…

Laying workers, and the distinct but functionally similar rebel workers, are a curse in hopelessly queenless hives. Why and when do they occur, how can you prevent them from appearing, and how to fix…

The 'June gap' and brood breaks; does the queen stop laying, or are the larvae cannibalised? Probably both, and more. Plus some brief comments on hayfever and honey, and determining when OSR/canola…

There are differences in the chemical and physical properties of wax in queen cells and worker comb. This is attributed to a specific group of young worker bees; the queen cell builders. What lessons…

The weather has a profound influence on bees and beekeeping; some thoughts on coping with extreme heat, the ideal conditions for queen mating, and predicting the onset of swarming.

Miticides kill Varroa. They also have detrimental side effects for the brood, workers, drones, and queen. Some of these side effects are more damaging than others, but many can be avoided (or at…

The vagaries of the weather, compounded by unexpected events, are what make beekeeping so endlessly fascinating … and challenging. Don't get flustered. Just keep calm and carry on and things should…

Bees spend more of their short lives learning about the environment during orientation flights than they spend foraging. Why are these flights so important, when do they start, and are bees that have…

Some observations on the impact of low overnight temperatures on colony development and spring swarming, and the use of Taranov swarm control to partition the flying and 'non-flying' bees to prevent…

Queenright queen rearing using the 'Ben Harden system' is an ideal way to produce queens without the need for huge cell raising colonies, or compromising honey production. A 'little and often'…

Bait hives, ley lines, exotic parasitic mites and formic acid treatments … a spring medley of good and bad beekeeping topics.

Winter DIY projects to make my beekeeping this year a little easier. Things for frames, mini-nucs, supers, finding bees, vaporisers, and queens. Some are novel, some are improvements, and some are…

What's the best method of swarm control? Some would judge this in terms of equipment needs, or lifting involved, or the number of return visits. However, if you also consider the population of bees…

Summary: In honey bees, sublethal exposure to the herbicide glyphosate reduces foraging and induces positive correlations in the brain content of octopamine and its precursors tyramine and tyrosine.

A pick'n'mix collection of swarm-related information this week. The planning and equipment needed for swarm control, and hiving bivouacked swarms. Some preliminary results on absconding swarms and…

Early hive inspections — and why you shouldn't — some thoughts on variable spring weather and progress in predicting swarming, and how the accuracy of the waggle dance varies depending on who is…

Colonies are highly selective when choosing larvae to rear queen. Standard (grafting-based) queen rearing methods are not. In this post I briefly discuss the science of larval selection, and then…

Do wet winters kill bees? Winter losses in '25/'26 appear to be unusually high. Inevitably, the miserable winter rain is blamed. However, I suspect the problem may be due to the earlier drought, a…

The financial outlay you need to make when starting beekeeping is less than the commitment the catalogues imply you should make. Buy wisely with compatibility and longevity in mind, but also invest…

Colonies can starve in early spring. It takes just a few days of adverse weather for colonies to run out of stores. This week I discuss preventing starvation in managed colonies, together with some…

Don't believe everything you read in the catalogues. It's expensive to start beekeeping, so buy little, and buy wisely. The equipment should last — and be usable — for decades, so aim to make your…

Identifying areas with endemic foulbroods, and the adjacent regions at risk from natural spillover through swarming. What choices are there in dealing with swarms originating from infected areas,…

Just because they contain an identical active ingredient don't assume they are equivalent. There are differences in the approved modes and frequency of administration, dosage, and shelf life … and…

Swarms may carry pests and pathogens. Mites are easily managed, but the notifiable foulbrood diseases are not. It is important to consider the risks, based upon swarm behaviour and the known…

The age-related division of labour. Critical to colony survival and performance, disrupted every time you perform a split, but amazingly flexible that most splits (eventually?) are successful. What…

The Demaree method offers the tempting prospect of maximising your honey production and preventing swarming. Achieving both these things needs appropriate conditions, a strong colony, timely colony…

Colony temperament is determined by their genetics, the amount you disturb them, and the environment. You must select the first of these when rearing queens. To do that well you need to minimise the…

Recent studies show that queens can lay larger eggs under certain environmental conditions. This provides a fascinating insight into honey bee biology, and provides new opportunities to rear bigger,…

I'm prepared for a bumper honey crop in 2026. It might not happen, but my supers are ready 'just in case'. Thoughts on tidying and storing your precious drawn comb, inexpensive protection from wax…

Recent research suggests that there may be better protein components than brewer's yeast and soybean flour for use in pollen sub patties.

Peace on earth, and goodwill to all men … and women. Particularly those that have to put up with a partner who keeps bees.

What's hot, and what's not?

Time for the annual review of the season; the good, the bad, and the ugly … plus a sprinkling of science on 'enforced supersedure'. In summary … mostly good, a little bad, and only the yellow legged…

How does the colony determine the queen should be superseded, and the implications this has for practical beekeeping? Plus the water preferences of honey bees, and some bumblebee-mimicking hoverflies.

An introduction to Varroxal, the new/old miticide available in the UK, and discussions on how it and FormicPro can be used control mites midseason. These provide the opportunity to avoid hard…