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I am new to this Keeping Bees madness, and the one thing that I have noticed from the start of becoming interested is the lack of hygiene and possible cross-contamination that beekeeper indulge in.
I have been making homemade wine for years and the importance of hygiene is paramount. Now I am not talking full noddy suit and police forensics standards, but I have seen hive equipment sold or passed on. Old frames reused and old stores from dead hives reused in new nukes.
Now that is ...

An amazing improvement in the weather today so I decided to mark some late season queens which I didn't get round to doing last year.
April is a good month for marking a queen as there are usually not too many bees in the box.
Call me an old fuddy duddy if you like, as Woodrow Wyatt used to say before going off on a rant, but I use the tried and trusted 'crown of thorns'. Thats thorns without either an E or an apostrophe, although I did buy it from Thorne so it was once a Thorne's ...

Checking out the various subjects under discussion in the POSTS - it would appear that it is business as usual for Scotland's bees and beekeepers. Where dio I get my bucket of sand? Or are we all suffering in silence?
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The information in the link below seems to contradict the accepted wisdom by some folk in beekeeping circles North and South of the border that pesticides are not a factor in CCD, also the article states that bees do indeed rob/scavenge honey from 'dead out' hives, again in total contrast to accepted wisdon handed down overr a number of years. Perhaps the denial of pesticide involvement in colony demise, should now be more closely scrutinised.



Bees in more trouble ...

Has anyone got any thought's on which is best Electric or Cold uncapping knife's also uncapping tray's is it possible to make one or would i be better puchasing one.