A visit from my bee group

Last weekend my bee group visited my out-apiary in Oxford.

It was a small gathering - 8 people. It might have been larger if I hadn't promised an Attack of the Killer Bees to all who ventured onto the roof. Hive E had been very stressed and its' aggression was difficult to handle.

On the day all the bees were very calm. I don't exactly know why. I think that the June nectar gap may have contributed. My interventions might also have been at fault.

We looked at all the removable boards beneath the mesh floors. I pointed out the evidence of various activities from the detritus which accumulates there. We popped the lids and made sure that the bees had sufficient space to expand.

I did show some brood, and the straight comb which new swarms build. Unfortunately I also found cross combing in the brood box caused by my bright idea to widen the intervals between the frames (to favour Drone production). That's another unnecessary problem caused.

There's a nice write-up about the visit on the OxNatBees blog.

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