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The perfect swarm collection! Why can’t it happen to me? For the past couple of years, I’ve been waiting patiently to film the perfect swarm collection. By ‘perfect’ I mean a massive swarm dangling, seemingly precariously, from a stout branch, at head-height unencumbered by foliage or prickles where the beekeeper simply comes along, places aContinueContinue reading “Swarm collection and hiving”

The bees worked hard over the first couple of weeks to draw out this beautiful comb So, my adventure began about three weeks ago. After being placed on the swarm list, I received my first call to a small swarm of around 300 bees. They were located in a bush about 4ft off the groundContinueContinue reading “My first swarm”

Learning how to identify a notifiable disease is much easier in a real life situation Hampshire Beekeepers’ Association hosted its Bee Health Day in partnership with our Regional Bee Inspectors on Saturday 18 June 2022. The free event was held at Sparsholt College, Winchester and combined talks from a variety of experts with practical hands-onContinueContinue reading “Hampshire Bee Health Day”

What can you see? Despite their names, both European Foulbrood and American Foulbrood are present in the UK and are potentially so serious, that their presence in an apiary is notifiable by law. The National Bee Unit (NBU) is the authority charged with controlling foulbrood. Beekeepers are legally obligated to report any suspected diseased coloniesContinueContinue reading “Foulbrood”

Denise and Richard inspected the West End apiary on 20 June. In hive 1, they found the lovely new queen (split from hive 2 and marked yellow) was laying well in a great pattern. The queen marked yellow can be seen in the middle of Richard’s beautiful picture. The bees in hive 2 are inContinueContinue reading “West End update”