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I’ve always been fascinated by the existence of Drone Congregation Areas — those special zones where honeybee Queens and drones go to mate.

Having taken a long time to come into lay, the new Queen may not be for the observation hive much longer. The drones have gone, but a coup may be planned …

The process to gain pan-European regulatory approval for Varroa control products and honeybee treatments such as HopGuard is not easy. Yesterday the regulatory team at Vita met to discuss the next stages — residue assessment.

The observation hive has been in action for a few weeks now — and is as mysterious as ever. There’s a queen, a retinue, the motions of going through egg-laying, but no brood or eggs yet … UPDATE: she IS laying.

Sebastian Owen has appeared in a Bee Craft Hangout (public video conference call) about bee diseases, specifically Nosema and Chronic Bee Paralysis. The hour-long video packs in lots of useful information. You can watch it here …

As I approached a newish apiary last weekend, I wondered where any swarms might choose to hang up. I was busy working on the final hive and happened to glance up …

Last Saturday saw the annual Meon Valley Beekeeping Auction in Hampshire, England. Two hundred lots were up for auction, some mainstream some quirky, and many bargains.

There are about five million colonies of bees in modern Russia. Some of the biggest operations have 1000-5000 colonies. But everyone has been hit hard by the Rouble exchange rate crisis and times are difficult.

Sebastian Owen, Vita’s Commercial Development Manager, ran a personal best in the London marathon yesterday and in the process raised sufficient funds for three water tanks in Uganda. It was no stroll in a Royal Park though!

There are some pests that honeybees cannot sting, so they produce a secret weapon from their armoury: the honeybee bite stuns the pest so that it can be ejected from the hive.

Now that spring has arrived in the northern hemisphere, swarming looms and Vita swarm lures are being readied for action. But how do those swarms find their way to their new home?

Blogpost: I have three apiaries — one in a garden in a village and two on agricultural land four and six kilometres away. Guess which is striding ahead despite being the smallest starter?