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The weathermen are claiming that the sky is going to fall in on us towards the middle of next week so I did a quick check on stores. There is a good chance that bees won't have much foraging time for a week or so.
I was hoping it might have been a bit warmer today and although bees were flying, it was a bit nippy for inspections.
The bees were working hard bringing in yellow pollen, probably from willow. There were also a lot collecting water from various sources which probably means ...

As I was asked if I was going to do one this year I thought I'd inflict it on the Scottish Beekeepers. I did [try and] keep a blog last year, but actually sitting down and writing about stuff is frequently far less interesting than actually doing it. I wont rehash last year's shenanigans but at time of writing, my little colony of bees appears to have come through winter very well so I am going to tentatively announce that my aim from last year's beekeeping has been achieved: I didn't kill my ...

I got three samples back this morning, one of my own (34) and two from my father's apiary. (Sample A & B)
Thanks again to Roger Patterson for taking the time to do them.




Surprisingly, his two samples are showing more hybridization than mine, probably from Carnica Drones as his bees are very dark with little or no sign of yellow banding.
He has a neighbour a quarter of a mile away ...

Sitting here in Glasgow waiting for a plane to take me to Reykjavik. Should have flown off midday but due to a mechanics strike, I am still sitting here at 18.00 and just been told a plane is dropping in here at 21.00 to pick me up - jolly kind of them as this great big terminal is virtually empty and I have nothing better to do than try out a BLOG??

Yes, off to the land of fire, ice, volcanoes (or is it volcanos?) strikes, and whalehunters. The whale bit is why I am going. Young ...

I released the queen I had left in a roller cage overnight.
The two colonies seemed to combine without fighting.
In theory, a queenless colony should look on an introduced queen as a gift from above but you never know with bees.
I removed the roller cage and then a frame from the nuc.
I placed the frame on its side and set the roller cage onto it, releasing the plug.
You can see the queen leaving and the bees immediately starting to groom her.
Sometimes ...